At some point in the coming weeks, I hope to be posting a report of a surprising parasitization of Red Admiral butterflies. While researching that topic, I came across a well-written and beautifully-illustrated post in
Butterflies of Singapore (a fantastic blog for butterfly enthusiasts). Herewith some excerpts:
Occasionally, when out in the field photographing butterflies, members of ButterflyCircle encounter strange red globular attachments to adult butterflies - usually at the head or eye of the butterfly...
...these mites were of the species Trombidium breei and that "studies have shown that these mites are harmless to the butterfly, having no detectable effect on the flight performance, orientation ability or lifespan"...
It is likely that these mites lurk on flowers and vegetation where these butterflies frequent, and are able to quickly attach themselves to the butterflies when they stop to rest or feed at flowers...
Further information on the mites is available in a post by
Ben The Butterfly Guy, which also includes information on a parasitic mite that attacks the ears of Noctuid moths:
“…in D. phalaenodectes the female mites invariably break through the tympanic membrane and use the tympanic air sac as an egg-laying chamber and hatchery.” This makes the moth deaf in the ear they inhabit.
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