Found on a fly...

[Beatsy]

I have no idea if this is a parasite that lives on flies, or an unfortunate little mite that accidentally hitched a ride. I'm not completely sure it's a actually critter either (though I think it is). It could just be a moulted skin. Found on the fly's back just behind the eye.

The critter/skin in situ - 10x Mitty onto APS-C. FoV is about 2mm.


Closer - but not a very good image. Call it a record shot (stack). It was difficult to light where it's sat and is pretty small too (FoV is about 0.35mm). Shot with a 50x mitty onto APS-C


The fly for context (other side). Yes, there was an "oops, too much nail varnish" moment when I stuck it to a wire. I didn't notice until I stacked it Minolta DImage 5400 at 1.8x onto full frame.

[ztt74]

Fantastic find! Very interesting.

[Harald]

Hi there Beatsy,
I think the shot with 50x is just great. Maybe 50x on APS-C is some kind of limit for whats possible. Need a lot of light and some very good stand.
Great images as always, thanks for sharing...

[Olympusman]

Yep, a mite. In the highest magnification shot you can discern eight legs.
Nice find.

Mike

[Sumguy01]

Very interesting.
Thanks for sharing.

[boomblurt]

Fascinating.

[MacroLab3D]

Mind blown.

[MarkSturtevant]

It does look like a mite. A very small one. Most of these are not parasites, but would feed on cuticle secretions.