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Tiny mite found on gaster of Camponotus semitestaceus alate.

camponotus semitestaceus alate mite

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#1 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 22 2014 - 9:11 AM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

I just found the smallest mite I have ever seen on the gaster of a Camponotus semitestaceus alate I caught last weekend. At first I thought it was just a bump on the ant's gaster, because even when poking it with a tiny pin, it was very hard to move it, but then all of a sudden it started walking around. The strangest part about this is that this ant was soaking in alcohol for a while. I pick much larger mites off my lizard sometimes, but these die instantly when they come into contact with alcohol. I got some pictures with as much magnification as my microscope can do (90x). Now I'm kind of wondering if this could be the cause of some new queen deaths, since without a microscope you would never even be able to see this thing.
 
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#2 Offline WeatherAnt - Posted April 1 2014 - 1:40 PM

WeatherAnt

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  • LocationWashington State

Any update on this little guy? Have you managed to get an ID or anything close?



#3 Offline dspdrew - Posted April 1 2014 - 2:20 PM

dspdrew
  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Not really. David Gaban from the Ants California Facebook group was saying it's probably a turtle mite or something.







Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: camponotus semitestaceus, alate, mite

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