| Author | Content |
Angel
Boonville, MO
(Zone 5a)
May 07, 2001
09:49 PM Post #4585
| What are those tiny red little critters all over the patio outside? I see them every year. They are invading my space! What do they do to plants? Is there a way to get rid of them? |
Trish
Jacksonville, TX
(Zone 8b)
 May 07, 2001
09:50 PM Post #73243
| Oh, Angel...I just saw a bunch of those too today! Hopefully someone will know what they are!
Trish |
GrannyLois
Elizabethton (Stoney, TN
(Zone 6b)
May 07, 2001
10:06 PM Post #73246
| Don't know. Do you have a picture? Could they be earwigs? |
Angel
Boonville, MO
(Zone 5a)
May 07, 2001
10:43 PM Post #73252
| No picture... they are tiny bright red dots. If you took a fine tipped red pen and made a dot they would be smaller than that even. If you smash them they make a red splat. They are really common and multiply quickly. |
Zanymuse
Scotia, CA
(Zone 9b)
May 07, 2001
11:59 PM Post #73266
| They sound yucky whatever they are! |
Happy_Gardener
Cedar Rapids, IA
May 08, 2001
12:11 AM Post #73269
| My first thought was maybe spider mites but I did a search on Google for "tiny red bugs" and every hit came up as "clover mites." I can remember seeing these in South Carolina. Always thought they were tiny spider mites.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLN-May0...
Scroll down for text regarding clover mites. |
Angel
Boonville, MO
(Zone 5a)
May 08, 2001
01:25 AM Post #73286
| Clover Mites... that must be it! The first time I ever saw these was when I was working in Oklahoma at a bank and they entered the building. I remember someone coming out to do a quarterly spray for insects but they said they didnt have anything for these bugs. I think they said what would kill them would be too dangerous or something and that they would die out soon anyway. They seem to love the house.
Ok, now I'm all itchy!! Better switch to a new topic if I want to sleep tonight. |
darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
May 08, 2001
04:42 PM Post #73415
| They sound like chiggers to me!
-darius |
cutlass
Atqasuk, AK
April 08, 2008
08:03 PM Post #4778144
| They are Clover Mites. See the article by Richard M. Houseman of
Department of Entomology at The University of Missouri at: http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/g07358...
Click the image for an enlarged view.
|
angelsparkly
Kansas City, MO
June 03, 2008
02:46 PM Post #5047137
| I managed to get one of the slower ones under a microscope and still not convinced it's the clover mite. Looks like it has more legs and I also found some darker ones. |
suunto
Sinks Grove, WV
June 03, 2008
03:19 PM Post #5047272
| Adult clover mites can vary considerably in color; it is the nymphs that more consistently are red. The distinguishing factor in clover mites is their unusually long first pair of legs that they often wave about like antennae. BTW, I cannot think of any arthropod as small as a clover (or spider) mite that would have more than eight legs. Even pseudoscorpions (with 10 legs) are larger. |
Nature_Phtgrphr
Canton, OH
February 22, 2009
02:23 AM Post #6172451
| If these are the bugs I am thinking of,I've seen them too.They would be extremely difficult (or maybe even impossible) to get a real good detailed shot of them with my camera.But when I go outside in the summer,I see a whole bunch of em when I lift up one of my flower pots.I don't know what they are,but they sure are plentiful!Definately not earwigs-those are brownish in color and have little creepy-lookin pincher things on em.And,compaired to the little red "spider dots" that i've seen,the ear wig is huge. |
osubugboy
Atlanta, GA
May 13, 2009
11:56 AM Post #6543334
| It could very well be a red predator mite (e.g., red velvet mite, http://www.cirrusimage.com/Arachnid/red_velvet_mite_10.jpg). They feed on many plant pests, so they're friendly! |
mamameko
Columbus, GA
June 16, 2009
08:03 PM Post #6697842
| My first thought was that they are chiggers. |
MariSama44
Huntsville, AL
July 06, 2009
05:10 PM Post #6785898
| Probably chiggers, they're all over the place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae |
anjeles
Saskatoon
Canada
July 15, 2009
07:30 PM Post #6824319
| I also have these miserable little critters on everything, and they bite! I would love to know how to get rid of them. We do have a lot of concrete and brickwork in the back yard. |
judyrud
Port Townsend, WA
July 17, 2009
03:05 AM Post #6829727
| I also have tiny red things in my garden, but from what I've read about red velvet spiders, that's not what they are, since my things move very very quickly, constantly scurrying over flower and leaf surfaces. Neither are they red spider mites, since although they are small, they're definitely visible, and I haven't noticed any particular plant damage. They are bright red and leave a red smear when squished. They bite! The bite not only hurts, but later it forms a small red blister surrounded by a large red rash that itches for about a week! I doubt I can rid my garden of them, but I'd sure like to know how to discourage them and maybe how to stop the itch, and I am curious to know what they actually are - spiders or something else? |
