A small mite I found many years ago
- Pat Thielen
- Posts: 372
- Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 5:02 am
- Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
A small mite I found many years ago
Hey there everyone! I'm still around, more or less! Life has been busier than usual and the usual chaos has grown a bit more chaosier, but then again -- That's life!
Anyway, there are a couple photos of a very small mite I found many years ago on one of my pitcher plants. The slide was made on 1-19-1979 when I was 15 years old. So, the quality isn't what many of you produce, but overall it isn't too bad. I wish I had access to glass cover slips back then as the slides I made are all scratched and stuff. Still, not too bad all considering. I don't remember what I did to make this slide -- All I know is it wasn't stained with anything and is mounted using Canada balsam.
What I do find interesting about this mite is that he has those rather intense looking mandibles. So, I suspect he was predatory in nature. Of course, I have no idea whatsoever what species he is. Maybe someone here might have some insight on that.
The smaller image of the mite was taken at 40x using a 15 image focus stack. The closer-up image was taken at 100x using a focus stack of 12 images. Both are simple bright field images; nothing fancy here.
As always, let me know what you think. I had been wondering for many years what happened to all the slides I made way back then. As it turned out, I found them (along with my lab equipment) stored away at my Mom's house.
Anyway, there are a couple photos of a very small mite I found many years ago on one of my pitcher plants. The slide was made on 1-19-1979 when I was 15 years old. So, the quality isn't what many of you produce, but overall it isn't too bad. I wish I had access to glass cover slips back then as the slides I made are all scratched and stuff. Still, not too bad all considering. I don't remember what I did to make this slide -- All I know is it wasn't stained with anything and is mounted using Canada balsam.
What I do find interesting about this mite is that he has those rather intense looking mandibles. So, I suspect he was predatory in nature. Of course, I have no idea whatsoever what species he is. Maybe someone here might have some insight on that.
The smaller image of the mite was taken at 40x using a 15 image focus stack. The closer-up image was taken at 100x using a focus stack of 12 images. Both are simple bright field images; nothing fancy here.
As always, let me know what you think. I had been wondering for many years what happened to all the slides I made way back then. As it turned out, I found them (along with my lab equipment) stored away at my Mom's house.
- Attachments
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- 10x/0.25, 12 image focus stack, brightfield, Nikon d810, Photoshop CC
- micro0016815_12_image_stack_100x.jpg (367.16 KiB) Viewed 4881 times
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- 4x/.1, 15 image focus stack, brightfield, Nikon d810, Photoshop CC
- micro0016799_15_image_stack_40x_cropped.jpg (238.48 KiB) Viewed 4881 times
Pat Thielen
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
Whatever you did was very successful, Pat ... It's good to see a specimen that's not horribly squashed!Pat Thielen wrote:... Anyway, there are a couple photos of a very small mite I found many years ago on one of my pitcher plants. The slide was made on 1-19-1979 when I was 15 years old. So, the quality isn't what many of you produce, but overall it isn't too bad. I wish I had access to glass cover slips back then as the slides I made are all scratched and stuff. Still, not too bad all considering. I don't remember what I did to make this slide -- All I know is it wasn't stained with anything and is mounted using Canada balsam. ...
MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
MichaelG. wrote:Whatever you did was very successful, Pat ... It's good to see a specimen that's not horribly squashed!Pat Thielen wrote:... Anyway, there are a couple photos of a very small mite I found many years ago on one of my pitcher plants. The slide was made on 1-19-1979 when I was 15 years old. So, the quality isn't what many of you produce, but overall it isn't too bad. I wish I had access to glass cover slips back then as the slides I made are all scratched and stuff. Still, not too bad all considering. I don't remember what I did to make this slide -- All I know is it wasn't stained with anything and is mounted using Canada balsam. ...
MichaelG.
LOL yes but we should give "horribly squashed" a technical term-any suggestions?
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
like "Twodimensionalized?"einman wrote:MichaelG. wrote:Whatever you did was very successful, Pat ... It's good to see a specimen that's not horribly squashed!Pat Thielen wrote:... Anyway, there are a couple photos of a very small mite I found many years ago on one of my pitcher plants. The slide was made on 1-19-1979 when I was 15 years old. So, the quality isn't what many of you produce, but overall it isn't too bad. I wish I had access to glass cover slips back then as the slides I made are all scratched and stuff. Still, not too bad all considering. I don't remember what I did to make this slide -- All I know is it wasn't stained with anything and is mounted using Canada balsam. ...
MichaelG.
LOL yes but we should give "horribly squashed" a technical term-any suggestions?
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
Yes..2Dimensionalized
- Pat Thielen
- Posts: 372
- Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 5:02 am
- Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
I'm a bit curious if there are any mite experts in these forums who might so, kinda-sorta, what type of mite this is. I did some looking but I haven't come up with any that have mandibles like that. I'm rather curious what he could have been eating on my pitcher plant. This mite was about 500 microns or so long.
Pat Thielen
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
Not a mite expert ... just curious on your behalf ... I found this:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The ... _250008642
Then, via Wikipedia, I found this video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Sa7x1AxeU
... I suggest that you may try contacting Stefan F. Wirth
MichaelG.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The ... _250008642
Then, via Wikipedia, I found this video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Sa7x1AxeU
... I suggest that you may try contacting Stefan F. Wirth
MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'
- Pat Thielen
- Posts: 372
- Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 5:02 am
- Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
MichaelG. wrote:Not a mite expert ... just curious on your behalf ... I found this:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The ... _250008642
Then, via Wikipedia, I found this video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Sa7x1AxeU
... I suggest that you may try contacting Stefan F. Wirth
MichaelG.
Thanks for the help -- I didn't come across this person at all when I did my initial Google search. I sent him a message on Facebook; I hope he sees it at some point. I still haven't found any images of mites with the particular mouthparts this one has. The ones that are known to live in the purple pitcher plant, which is what I had back then, didn't really resemble the one I found and photographed.
An interesting mystery to be sure!
Pat Thielen
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
- Pat Thielen
- Posts: 372
- Joined: Sun May 08, 2016 5:02 am
- Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Re: A small mite I found many years ago
This mite is a species found in the order Oribatida, also known as moss or beetle mites. Thanks to Stefan F. Wirth for the identification.
And thanks to Michael for suggesting I contact Stefan in the first place. I really appreciate how people are so willing to help and are so generous with their time.
And thanks to Michael for suggesting I contact Stefan in the first place. I really appreciate how people are so willing to help and are so generous with their time.
Pat Thielen
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810
Motic BA310, C & A Scientific Premiere SMZ-07, Swift Eleven-Ninety, Swift FM-31, Bausch & Lomb VM349, Olympus CHA
Nikon d810