Red Spider Mite

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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acerola
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Red Spider Mite

Post by acerola »

There is some tomato on our balcony. An unwanted photographic subject appeared on it. Here is the result. It has two tiny red spot, I think it is its eyes. One of them is over and slightly right from the base of the second leg, the other one is just on the upper edge above the firs one.


Image


Image
Last edited by acerola on Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
Péter

lauriek
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Post by lauriek »

Oh I like that!

How did you manage to pose him like that?

acerola
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Post by acerola »

I just added another picture.
I tried a short interval in the freezer. The second picture was the earlier. It just started to move at the end of the stack, so I could not use some of the images.
Longer time in the freezer stopped it completely without much disorder of the pose.
Péter

P_T
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Post by P_T »

Didn't think it would look this gross at that level of magnification. The visible innards not helping either.

That's quite a feat being able to stack a life bug as restless as this mite.

Aynia
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Post by Aynia »

Second one is nicely done.

rovebeetle
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Post by rovebeetle »

Wow! I'm speechless - nothing else to add ... for the moment.

Cheers
Harry

lauriek
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Post by lauriek »

Interesting! Did he eventually wake up after the second time in the freezer?

Very nice results anyway!

acerola
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Post by acerola »

I don't think it survived the second session. It moved a little when the ice crystals melted on the leaf, but remained motionless after.
Péter

dmillard
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Post by dmillard »

Very impressive images Péter!

Planapo
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Post by Planapo »

Great images, Péter! I remember these beasts well from a class on plant pathology I took. Yes, the red spots should be the eyes. The species could be Tetranychus urticae, but I know hardly anything about spider mite taxonomy.
The details of the leaf, like the plant hairs and stomata in the photos, are a real add-on .

--Betty

Harold Gough
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Post by Harold Gough »

Strangely enough, red spider mites mostly look rather green, with those large dark internal areas. Another pest mite of food crops is Panonychus ulmi. I don't have the time to try to sort this out further.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

acerola
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Post by acerola »

Most of the time they are lighter in color. But the overwintering females turn darker at the end of autumn, as far as I know. This must be this colored state.
It might be some dark antifreeze substance. :lol: As I could not freeze it easily. :)
Péter

Harold Gough
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Post by Harold Gough »

I was happilly thinking this was the beginning of autumn.... :?

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Cyclops
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Post by Cyclops »

Fantastic images!! =D> =D>
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope

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