Mite micrograph

[urbpan]

This mite was found on the hair of a monkey asleep for surgery. I figured those huge pincer-like appendages were distinctive and it would be easy to identify. A bugguide expert identified it as a female member of Order Mesostigmata, the entry for which reads "Many members of this group are free living and predatory rather than parasitic like other mites."

It's interesting to me that the expert was able to instantly identify the sex of this animal, but identified its taxonomy to Order. For comparison, a house cat and a polar bear are in the same Order.

Comments

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the most interesting thing you can see all day is the hair of a monkey, just with a different perspective.

[m0053.livejournal.com]

This is a great picture, do you have an original that is any larger?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

How about this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/655456