The Passenger - _TNY_5283
This is a close-up on a Carabus coriaceus ground beetle from the Rudan nature reserve which had a bunch of mites as stoweaways.
I believe these mites belong to the family Parasitidae, and are phoretic mites, as in them using the host for travel and not feeding on it. The long legs would suggest them being predatory.
The Carabus coriaceus ground beetle lacks a common English name but both the Swedish and German names reference the leathery appearance of it so perhaps we informally could dub this the leather ground beetle?
Either way, this is the largest ground beetle in Sweden and can reach a total length of 40 mm which really is quite hefty.
This particular beetle kept running and running over the moss in the pretty dense spruce forest of the Rundan nature reserve, but I stayed on it and when it finally stopped - it kept completely still, enabling me to get very close. This was when I noticed the mites and tried to get extra close on them for a couple of shots.
Part 1, showing more of the whole beetle here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51635767143/
Part 2, somewhere in-between here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51683005470/
The Passenger - _TNY_5283
This is a close-up on a Carabus coriaceus ground beetle from the Rudan nature reserve which had a bunch of mites as stoweaways.
I believe these mites belong to the family Parasitidae, and are phoretic mites, as in them using the host for travel and not feeding on it. The long legs would suggest them being predatory.
The Carabus coriaceus ground beetle lacks a common English name but both the Swedish and German names reference the leathery appearance of it so perhaps we informally could dub this the leather ground beetle?
Either way, this is the largest ground beetle in Sweden and can reach a total length of 40 mm which really is quite hefty.
This particular beetle kept running and running over the moss in the pretty dense spruce forest of the Rundan nature reserve, but I stayed on it and when it finally stopped - it kept completely still, enabling me to get very close. This was when I noticed the mites and tried to get extra close on them for a couple of shots.
Part 1, showing more of the whole beetle here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51635767143/
Part 2, somewhere in-between here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/51683005470/