# What are the tiny red mites on the sidewalk?



## hypostatic

Hey, so I've been wondering this for YEARS. Does anyone know what the species of red mite is that I see swarming the sidewalk this type of year in NY/NJ? It's usually how I tell summer has officially started. Yesterday I noticed that they had started to swarm the sidewalk. So, anyone know their ID?


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## zaius

I believe they are called clover mites.


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## Gamble

Culturable?


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## WendySHall

Ha! Never thought about culturing them. There were thousands of them on my porch railing over the holiday weekend. I was scared to death they would crawl in my drink and freaked out when I found some on my arm! Can you imagine...I play with bugs all the time in the frogroom, but am scared of the stuff outside! Lol!


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## hypostatic

Yeah, definitely not clover mites. My research told me that the species name for clover mites is Bryobia praetiosa? Google images only yields a brownish-tan animal for this species:










After some more research I think they might be a type of Predatory Running Mite (family Erythraeidae)?
Predatory Running Mite - What's That Bug?

I think they look like this:


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## carola1155

I was wondering about this the other day... There are a ton of them out back by my pond. I then decided it would be an awful idea to culture them because they don't need humidity to survive and I'm not interested in having them get out and running around inside my house haha


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## Dendro Dave

I found something like this swarming the mailboxes in my mobile home park, actually some had gotten onto one of my packages. I almost wondered if I should try introducing them to a vivarium but when I smashed one...blood...a crap load of blood for a very tiny bug...so I'm thinking some kinda tick










Was a really nice bright red though...brighter then you see on the mite/ticks that come on some lizards.


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## WendySHall

Yep...that was what was crawling on my porch! Even scarier close up! Too spider-like for me...they can stay outside...especially after the "blood" post!


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## Dendroguy

When trying to ID microfauna, especially beetles or arachnids, it can be a pain in the arse. Without close examination of the creatures carapace with a powerfull microscope it can be almost impossible to narrow the creature of Aubrey down to a species. For now I'm voting to safely assume Bryobia spp. or Erythraeidae spp.

D


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## Trey

I just call them spider mites.. check out the wiki article Spider mite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theres also sources that say they are clover mites.. read this 
Bright Red Bugs in a Concrete Wall | eHow

The body structure doesnt seem right for Erythraeidae.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythraeidae At least not the ones I see around here..


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## bobrez

Not sure if its true, ive always heard these mites were use too make Red#5. They are very red when sqished, also I do know if ya sit on a bunch they bite


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## hypostatic

OK, so I also considered spider mites, but I really don't think that's what they are. Their legs are clear, and they are much smaller than the sidewalk mites. Also, spider mites seem to move in a much more leisurely fashion than these guys, who are basically running on the pavement.
Spider mites:









The wikipedia page drawing doesn't really look like the mites in question, but if you do a google image search for "Tetranychidae" it comes up with things that look really similar:


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## hypostatic

Dendro Dave said:


> I almost wondered if I should try introducing them to a vivarium but when I smashed one...blood...a crap load of blood for a very tiny bug...so I'm thinking some kinda tick.


I don't think it's blood. I think I read somewhere that the "red" is a pigment that they make that makes them unappetizing to eat.



bobrez said:


> Not sure if its true, ive always heard these mites were use too make Red#5. They are very red when sqished, also I do know if ya sit on a bunch they bite


Hmmmm, this information fits well with the predatory running spider link I gave about the genus Balaustium. 



> Species of Erythraeidae have piercing mouthparts and are also predatory on small arthropods or eggs in their post-larval stages, but Balaustium are unusual in being pollen feeders. They can be found in large numbers in flowers, but are most often seen by people on flat surfaces where pollen falls. These mites have been reported to bite people, causing some irritation, although why they do this is uncertain since they’re not parasitic.


Also, the google images look very promising:

















I'll try to see if I can find any on some flowers like the above pic. I'll also try to get bit (for science) to help with the ID.


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## Fantastica

hypostatic said:


> I don't think it's blood. I think I read somewhere that the "red" is a pigment that they make that makes them unappetizing to eat.


May be a really bad idea for our darts then, eh? If it's the right kind of toxin with the right kind of frog, I'm sure our frogs could become poisonous in captivity.


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## hypostatic

Fantastica said:


> May be a really bad idea for our darts then, eh? If it's the right kind of toxin with the right kind of frog, I'm sure our frogs could become poisonous in captivity.


POTENTIALLY. I mean, I DO believe that I read that the source of most of darts' toxins come from mites. But mostly I don't know if it would be a good idea because they're "unpalatable"? Although, I'd imagine their natural diet of poisonous mites would also be unpalatable....

Also, I don't think culturing these (if they are Balaustium) would be viable because you'd need a supply of pollen. If they are any other Tetranychidae (predatory running mites), you'd have to feed them fruit flies or something.


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## Buddysfrogs

Just a fun fact about them. If you draw a circle around them in ink they'll not cross over the ink. I would not culture them as you would have no idea as to what they do for your darts.
Buddy


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## hypostatic

Same thing with ants!


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## r.avalos

What? How is this possible?


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## trevorthetoad

I think they're called chiggers, if I'm thinking of the right bug. Their bite is said to be painful.


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## hypostatic

trevorthetoad said:


> I think they're called chiggers, if I'm thinking of the right bug. Their bite is said to be painful.


Hmmm I don't think so. According to wiki "chiggers" are only 0.4 mm. These guys are ~2mm -- about 5X bigger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae


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## Dendro Dave

hypostatic said:


> I don't think it's blood. I think I read somewhere that the "red" is a pigment that they make that makes them unappetizing to eat.
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> Hmmmm, this information fits well with the predatory running spider link I gave about the genus Balaustium.
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> Also, the google images look very promising:
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> I'll try to see if I can find any on some flowers like the above pic. I'll also try to get bit (for science) to help with the ID.


That might be, it seemed to have that orangish plasma smear that blood has though...if that makes any sense? Basically it was like smearing blood on something as opposed to smearing red ink on something....but I don't know...those pics look look pretty much identicial to what I saw though.

They were a bit brighter red though it seemed like in this pic...








And the larger close up that was in the same post.


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## bristles

I was told that they were called ubiquitous mites by some one in a plant club that works for the UW, now I'm going by the very tiny red bugs I see around here in central WI. I've never taken a macro lens pic of them but they seem a bit more rounder than what I've seen in pics here.


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## oddlot

I believe they are a predatory mite and they do bite,so I wouldn't even think of putting them in with my frogs.


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## hypostatic

So I couldn't get them to bite me. They seemed to be feeding on something tiny in the concrete. Every once in a while they'd pause scampering around and they'd dip their heads into small depressions in the concrete -- I'm assuming to feed on _something_.

Anywho, here's a video of something that might haunt your dreams:


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