Here's two of them:
A close crop:
These red spider mites were spotted on the wooden step of my Summerhouse.
Actual size about 1.5mm including the legs.
Photos above were taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050
The following were taken with the Canon 50D with 70-200 zoom plus Raynox Macro lens:
Those were taken hand held while the little darlings raced around all over the place.
Over 30 shots were consigned to Dusty Bin but no mites were harmed during this photo shoot.
neat creatures, but i never like to see mites - i used to keep birds in a much different, long ago life. :)
ReplyDeleteTWG: I had just been reading that they can be a problem with hens and presumably other birds.
DeleteJohn, I am pretty sure these are not chicken mites. These eat sap and are a nuisance ifthey get in a greenhouse. Chicken mites are about half this size and are not red until they have fed on the hens at night. Chicken mites are controllable if you can get at them. A bit of fairy liquid and a pressure washer washes the wax off them and they die. Also Diatom dusting powder keeps them in check as the powder pierces the wax coating on them. Don't use roofing felt if they get under that then You mite(pun Intended) as well burn the hen house and start again. It's less trouble to get eggs from Aldi.
DeleteGreat shots.
ReplyDeleteIt's years since I've seen these. As children we called them money spiders. Don't know why.
Adrian: My mother also called them money, spiders - supposed to bring money if they walked over the palm of her hand. The ones she found always seemed to be duds ;)
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