A mite on a dung beetle [Edit not tick], thanks Marek

JH · Post by JH » Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:05 pm

A mite [Edit: not tick, thanks Marek Mis] on an earth-boring dung beetle Anoplotrupes stercorosus
Mitutoyo M plan apo 20x
Regards Jörgen

GaryB · Post by **GaryB** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:12 pm

Gorgeous picture!

I didn't even know they had parasites. I guess nothing is really safe from things like this. I wonder if parasites get smaller parasites

curt0909 · Post by **curt0909** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 6:03 pm

Great photo.

GaryB, even a bacterium gets a bacteriophage parasite.

houstontx · Post by **houstontx** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:39 pm

wow, thats incredible...

zzffnn · Post by **zzffnn** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:59 pm

Beautiful image, Jorgen! The Beatle's color is stunning.
Were the subjects dead, when you imaged them? Approximately how many stacks did you use?

Curt,
Do you happen to know what "parasites" pray on phage/virus? Even smaller viruses, or prions? I am too lazy to search PubMed now and haven't studied virology for 8 years.

curt0909 · Post by **curt0909** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:18 pm

zzffnn, I'm not sure. I've always assumed a virus was the end of the line for host/parasite relationships.

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:46 pm

What a beautiful and interesting image! Extremely well lit.

piczzilla · Post by **piczzilla** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 10:08 pm

This is amazing! This sets my bar on a different plane entirely...

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:11 am

Fantastic image !

But... Are you sure it is tick ? As far as I know the ticks feed on vertebrates.

Will you be so kind as to give us some additional info such as: the way of illumination, stacking software and what option was used.

Marek

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:22 am

Marek, mites ("ticks") are commonly parasitic on insects.

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:54 am

Lou Jost wrote:Marek, mites ("ticks") are commonly parasitic on insects.

OK, mites generally can be parasites but ticks are special kind of mites feeding on blood of vertebrates, I think.

Marek

Lou Jost · Post by **Lou Jost** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:57 am

Could be. Common words like "tick" or "bug" are notoriously unstandardized, though they have more specific meanings among specialists.

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:23 am

Super

JH · Post by JH » Fri Apr 28, 2017 9:34 am

Thanks Marek Mis for the correction! Mite not tick.

Thanks all for the nice comments.

Best regards Jörgen Hellberg

Saul · Post by **Saul** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:40 am

Jörgen, great stack, impressive details !