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Gorse spider mites (Tetranychus lintearius)

You learn something new everyday. Always assumed the masses of webbing that appear on gorse bushes were spider related, but thanks to Dom Greves expert knowledge and good eye I had a closer look at one example earlier today.

 

This seethig mass of tiny spider mites are the real culprit and one of the very few things that eat gorse. They have even been exported to countries around the world where gorse is a real pest plant as biological control.

 

This is a close crop, mainly because I like the detail of the web in the centre here!

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Uploaded on March 17, 2015
Taken on March 17, 2015