Picture Esk
Not for the squeamish!
I was looking for caterpillar eggs on a beetroot leaf when my eye was caught by a bright orange dot on the leaf. But when I put the orange dot under the microscope I found that it wasn`t an egg, but a tiny mite which has buried its fangs into the back of a blackfly type bug, and was sucking out the contents.
If you look closely you can see its tiny red eyes either side of its head.
This image was taken at high magnification, x 400. The mite was about 0.5mm long.
Not for the squeamish!
I was looking for caterpillar eggs on a beetroot leaf when my eye was caught by a bright orange dot on the leaf. But when I put the orange dot under the microscope I found that it wasn`t an egg, but a tiny mite which has buried its fangs into the back of a blackfly type bug, and was sucking out the contents.
If you look closely you can see its tiny red eyes either side of its head.
This image was taken at high magnification, x 400. The mite was about 0.5mm long.