Dear Sir
We have a dairy and we specialize in hard and soft cheese (France and Italian Style. For the last few weeks we see a development of brown layer with small particles on some of our cheeses. This layer seems to deteriorate the cheese (small holes). Under a microscope it seems like kind of insect (pictures attached). We will appreciate if you could help and advise to identified the insect, it’s origin and ways to disinfect. Thank you in advance
Best regards
Michal Lidor

Hi Mike,
You have some species of Culture Mite, possibly of the genuses Acarus or Tyrophagus. We have been unable to locate any specific information except that they infest foods. Sorry, I can’t tell you how to disinfect without destroying the integrity of the cheese.

Update from Barry M. OConnor (05/23/2006)
Culture mites (2/14/05). You’re right that this is a species of Acarus, most likely Acarus siro. This is the most common "cheese mite" infesting cheese produced in traditional operations. As a historical note, this species was the first mite named by Linnaeus!

mites?
Hello Bugman,
I just came over your site on the internet. I like taking macro shots of insect and today I have taken an interesting one. There are were some red dots on the wing of a dragonfly. I think maybe they can be some sort of insects or mites. I live in Hungary, Europe I hope you can help me anyway…
Best regards.
Ambruzs Péter

Dear Ambruzs Péter,
Your photo is beautiful. We suspect you have photographed the Locust Mite, Eutrombidium rostratum. Essig writes that it : “is the common locust mite of the United States and Europe. It is a large bright red species. … They are often taken on the body and wings of grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and mantids, and do not attack humans.” Even if it is not that exact species, you have most definitely photographed mites hitching a ride on your dragonfly.

Update from Barry M. OConnor (05/23/2006)
Locust mites on dragonfly (8/7/04). You’re close here. These mites are related to trombidiids, erythraeids and chiggers, but are actually larval water mites in the family Arrenuridae, genus Arrenurus. Water mites have the same life cycle as their terrestrial relatives (i.e. parasitic larva, predatory post-larvae), but the predatory stages are fully aquatic, living in ponds, lakes and streams. Arrenurus species commonly parasitize odonates. Unlike the red larvae, the post-larvae are a beautiful greenish blue, and are good swimmers in ponds & lakes.

Furry Red Spiders
Recently I have been doing alot of yard work and i’ve noticed that there are the strangest bright red furry little spiders or insects crawling around everywhere. They are really slow, and they are about the size of pencil eraser or a little bigger. Some of them actually look like they are outlined in white, and these tend to be a little larger. When they are threatened they curl up into a little ball and seem to like buroughing in the dirt. Can you tell me what these bugs might be? I’ve searched everywhere and havn’t found an answer.
Thanks
Ashley

Hi Ashley,
There is a family of mite known as Velvet Mites, Trombidiidae, and one species, the Angelito, Angelothrombium pandorae, is a giant red velvet mite that is found in desert areas. According to Hogue: "These creatures never fail to attract attention because of their large size (the body length of adults is about 1/4 to 3/8 in.) and brilliant crimson furry bodies. The larvae are parasites of grasshoppers, and the adults are predators on subterranean termites. The adults remain in the soil most of the year and spend only a few hours above ground, probably to feast on their prey, which also respond to rains by emerging in numbers. Little else is known of their biology."

My friend and I have little white bugs living in the soil of our plant. When we water the plants they float to the top of the soil then go back in once the water goes down. My friend tried to put dish soap in the water but that didn’t kill them. How can we get rid of them without buying a spray for them.
I have asthma and my friend is disabled. It would be easier if we could get a home remedy. Can you please help us. In my last email I failed to mention that our plants are indoor plants there are 5 different kinds of plants we own and 3 of them have the white bugs.

Dear Annette,
Your letter doesn’t specify if you have a full on infestation or just a few bugs. If they are big enough to see, they are big enough to be removed manually when they float to the surface. If you are squeemish, try tweezers.
A better suggestion, especially if you have many bugs, is to use the old flea bitten fox trick. Remember the fable of the fox who had fleas, so he grabbed a stick in his mouth and went for a dip? The fleas moved to his head to stay dry, and as they moved to the stick, the crafty fox let go of the stick, and was rid of the fleas for a bit.
Try submerging your plants in a bucket of water, when the pests rise to the surface, pour off the water into the toilet, and let the plant dry out. You may need to do this several times to rid the plants of the pestilence.
Sorry your description was so vague, I can’t really identify your pest properly, but they might be a variety of soil mite. It is also possible that they are not actually harming the plant, and have just taken warm refuge in your dirt. Dirt in the garden is full of insects and their kin which are actually beneficial.
Good luck.