Photo 43159760, (c) Matthew Connors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Matthew Connors

Attribution © Matthew Connors
some rights reserved
Uploaded by matthew_connors matthew_connors
Source iNaturalist Australia
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

Observer

matthew_connors

Date

May 13, 2017 01:42 PM AEST

Description

Centipede Mite
Identified as Mesostigmata on Bowerbird by Matthew Connors: "An interesting little predatory mite from the suborder Monogynaspida - it ran around on the centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes) and went to hide next to one of its spiracles when I picked the centipede up. A little bit of research reveals this relationship is likely mutualistic - the mite lives with the centipede and eats any parasites that attack it. It's great to see just how intermingled the lives of different species actually are!"

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