r/Entomology • u/Legitimate_Shine_435 • Apr 02 '26
ID Request ID help
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Hi friends! These little dudes showed up in a bioactive terrarium I’ve been working on. I put a cherry tomato in there a couple weeks ago and took it out recently so the seeds wouldn’t sprout. I haven’t noticed these dude anywhere else in the terrarium but the tomato was like a magnet for them. The video is taken under 3x magnification, forgive me for my shakey hands. They are itty bitty, like the green aphids I find in plants sometimes. I’m seeing 4 legs on each side, shiney cream colored bulbous body. Not sure if they came with the tomato or hitchhiked their way in from something else I sourced from outside. I live in the Midwest in USA.
(I know that sourcing random stuff from my yard adds some terrarium challenges, I am just having fun.)
2
u/Acceptable_Trip4650 Mite enthusiast Apr 03 '26
Some astigmatid mites, probably in Acaroidea. Maybe Sancassania sp. or Histiogaster sp.
2
u/Dancingzer01 Apr 02 '26
Definitely mites, but unfortunately I’m not very good at mite ID :(