Trombidium holosericeum

Trombidium holosericeum

The Red Samtmilbe ( Trombidium holosericeum ), also Sammetmilbe, is a representative of the family of land and plant mites ( Trombidiidae ) from the subclass of the mites.

Features

The kind reaches a length of up to four millimeters. The body is provided with a dense weichhäutig and scarlet hair, so a velvety impression. The eyes are small and distinctly stalked. The jaws jaws ( chelicerae ) are scissor -shaped, while the pedipalps are developed into organs of touch.

Dissemination

The Red Samtmilbe is widespread in Central Europe and almost everywhere common. You see them often in the sunshine on the floor or walls running around. They colonize different habitats such as forest edges, dry grass or walls.

Way of life

The larvae of the Red Samtmilbe develop parasitic on various insects such as butterflies or locusts, but also to harvestmen. There you can often almost as unsegmented sac -like structures under the wings of the hosts see suck blood. From the larvae floating nymphs, similar to the way of life of the adult mites develop. The bottom-dwelling animals suck mainly from insect eggs, but also hunt other small soil animals.

Swell

• Heiko Bellmann: Arachnids Europe. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-440-09071- X
• Heiko Bellmann: Cosmos Atlas of arachnids Europe, Kosmos, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-440-07025-5