red velvet mite

Trombidium

Description:

Fuzzy, brilliant red insect, about 1.5 cm long, crawling on rock.

Habitat:

Sonoran Desert, rocky hillside.

Notes:

I mis-identified this as an ant or wasp, at first, but thanks to suggestions, I see that it is really a mite.

1 Species ID Suggestions

JohnStrickland 11 years ago

Spider mite

None

4 Comments

DonnaTang 11 years ago

Thanks, Aaron. I thought it was pretty cute, too!

Aaron_G 11 years ago

This is definitely a mite, and a good-looking one at that! :-)

DonnaTang 11 years ago

I agree with you, John, about it not being a velvet ant. Its proportions are more like a spider than an ant, and it was totally red, including the legs. I'll have to look up "spider mites" and see how they match. Thanks for the suggestion!

JohnStrickland 11 years ago

Ido not believe that to be a velvet ant or cow ant. Even if it was a young ant the proportions would be different. Mutillidae do not have red hair on their legs.