Genus Balaustium - Sidewalk Mites

Concrete Mites, Pollen Mites, Red Mites

ba-LOW-stium

All active stages (larva, deutonymph, adult) are predatory on other soft-bodied arthropods including insect eggs. However, several species have been shown to subsist exclusively on pollen. In fact, the most noticed species (synanthropic species found on concrete, as well as those that can be found on flowers) likely persist exclusively on pollen in nature.

Most Parasitengona are ectoparasites as larvae and then active stages (deutonymphs and adults) are predators. Balaustium have lost the parasitic association as larvae, and instead all life stages are predators. Exceptions to this rule are those Balaustium that can persist on pollen either facultatively or obligatorily.