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Project Noah Nature School
Mating craneflies, with some mites hanging on.
Forest
Mites will often attach themselves to other insects to use them for transportation. It's like flying on an airline, but without all the security checkpoints or the pilot's permission.
Spotted on May 18, 2011
Submitted on Sep 11, 2011
1 Comment
Mites are probably in the genus Calyptostoma, a common parasite of crane flies. They are actually true parasites in that they feed on their host. Of course... other mites (including some that use crane flies) do not feed, and are thus not called parasitic, but phoretic.