Underside of mite from Aphodius rufipes

Underside of mite from Aphodius rufipes

Description

Title:
Underside of mite from Aphodius rufipes
Caption / Description:

A dead mite that was found with a dead Aphodius rufipes dung beetle. This mite is 1mm long.

The mites travel with the beetle to new sources of dung, and are likely oribatid mites that feed on fungus growing on the dung. Aphodius rufipes can also play host to parasitic mites that feed on fly larvae that live in dung.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acari):

Acari (or Acarina) are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and its fossil history goes back to at least the early Devonian period.

Most acarines are minute to small (e.g. 0.08–1.00 millimetre or 0.0031–0.039 inch), but the largest Acari (some ticks and red velvet mites) may reach lengths of 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in). It is estimated that over 50,000 species have been described (as of 1999) and that a million or more species are currently living.

Tags / Keywords:
  • Biota
  • Life
  • Vitae
  • Eukaryota
  • Animalia
  • Animals
  • Arthropoda
  • Arthropods
  • Arachnida
  • Arachnids
  • Aphodius rufipes
  • Acari
  • Acarina
  • Mites
  • Oribatida
  • Oribatid mites
  • Dung

Admin

Date Original Photo Taken:
Original File Name:
_MG_7157.CR2
Event:
Rating:
Date this image added/last updated on website:
Original File Dimensions:
2369px x 1614px
File Type:
JPEG
Color Mode:
RGB
Original Image Color Profile:
Adobe RGB (1998)

Location

Location Created:
Sublocation:
City:
Market Harborough
Province/State:
Leicestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
World Region:
Europe
Geo-location:

Rights

Copyright Status:
Copyrighted
Licensing Status:
Rights Managed
Available for Editorial Use:
Yes
Available for Commercial Use:
Yes
Copyright Notice:
© 2009 Dave Kennard

Camera Data

Date Digital Resource was created:
Shutter speed:
1200 s
Aperture:
f/7.1
Camera Model:
Canon EOS 450D
ISO:
100
Exposure Compensation:
0
Focal Length:
65mm
Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
Metering Mode:
Multi-segment
Flash:
On, Fired
Exposure Mode:
Manual
White Balance:
Manual
Light Source:
Exposure Program:
Manual

Additional shooting metadata

Lens:
Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro
Filters used:
Additional Optics used:
Setup:
Handheld
Canon MT-24EX Macro Twin Flash with no diffusion

Post Processing

Image Modified:
Software used:
  • Adobe Camera RAW
Post Processing:

-0.25 exposure compensation in ACR
Large crop in ACR