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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Mites and Ticks (Acari) » Acariformes » Trombidiformes » Prostigs (Prostigmata) » Anystina » Parasitengona » Erythraeina » Long-Legged Velvet Mites (Erythraeoidea) » Erythraeidae
Photo#299084
Moth Passenger
Copyright © 2009 Ashley Bradford

Moth Passenger
Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA
July 4, 2009
Size: ~ .4 mm
I don't know if this shot is good enough to make out what this little hitchhiker on this moth was, but it doesn't look like the typical mites I occasionally see hitching rides - it's got really long dangling legs, for one thing. Does anyone know what it is?
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Contributed by Ashley Bradford on 4 July, 2009 - 11:10pm
Last updated 5 August, 2009 - 11:40am

Moved
Moved from Mites and Ticks.
… Ashley Bradford, 5 August, 2009 - 11:40am login or register to post comments

Erythraeidae
This is an erythraeid larva.
… Ray Fisher, 5 August, 2009 - 11:36am login or register to post comments

 
Thank you!
That has been such a mystery to me! Are they parasitic, or just hitching a ride?
… Ashley Bradford, 5 August, 2009 - 11:40am login or register to post comments

 
Parasitic.
Like most velvet mites, larvae are parasitic and adults are free-ranging predators.
… Ray Fisher, 5 August, 2009 - 12:17pm login or register to post comments

 
Ah, I didn't know that -
thanks for the education. Poor moths!
… Ashley Bradford, 5 August, 2009 - 12:30pm login or register to post comments

 
Poor moths
Yea... not only can moths have a significant infection of erythraeids, but they can be hosts for many other mites in many families! Some live under the proboscus, some live beneath the wings, some are specialists in moth ears! Moths are great habitats for much cooler creatures :)
… Ray Fisher, 5 August, 2009 - 1:37pm login or register to post comments

 
Moth ears!
There is such a thing?? Thanks for the information! It seems there was an outbreak of them a few weeks back, because I saw several moths with these passengers, and I hadn't seen them before or since.
… Ashley Bradford, 5 August, 2009 - 1:56pm login or register to post comments

Whole moth shot here:
… Ashley Bradford, 4 July, 2009 - 11:11pm login or register to post comments

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