Saturday, 19 September 2015

A Mite Concerned

We caught this Square-spot Rustic a few days after National Moth Night and noticed this red blob on the left fore-wing.  Initially I thought that we had caught one of their marked moths.  However, on subsequent photographic enlargement it became clear that this moth was playing host to a red mite.   This is a first for us though there is some published literature re mites on Noctuids.

Evan


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2 comments:

  1. Tony Allenby20 September 2015 at 07:53

    Very interesting, beetles in the trap are frequently carrying mites but I don't remember ever seeing them on the moths (not that we are seeing many moths at the moment!)

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  2. Peter Hall20 September 2015 at 15:17

    They are there, but often not at all obvious. I see them regularly, but only because I'm chopping lots of moths and I see them still attached when under the microscope. The last one I saw was attached to an eye - still makes me cringe.

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