Tiny and spider like
Location: South Africa
February 26, 2011 12:35 pm
Hope you can help with an ID for this tiny creature. Body less than 1mm in length. Found it running around on the tiles next to my swimming pool. Runs extremely fast (almost appears to be gliding) in circular patterns and then suddenly stops before taking off again. Seems like it has two white eyes. Must be related to a spider?
Signature: Vida
Hello Vida,
We really want to commend you for taking such detailed photographs of such a tiny creature. Your creature is some species of Mite in the subclass Acari. Your observation that it must be related to a spider is correct since both are classified as Arachnids. We find the taxonomic classification of Mites to be well beyond our means, and we are reluctant to try to be any more specific than the extremely general identification of Mite. We would like to add again that your very detailed photographs are quite lovely.
Thank you very much Daniel. I happy to hear that this fascinating little creature is a mite. My first photo of a mite!
What’s That Bug? looks forward to receiving other submissions from you in the future.
This is a mite in the family Anystidae. The long spines on the legs are characteristic.