GeoGraph - photograph every grid square

Mites from my compost heap

These black shiny mites are abundant in my compost heap. There were about 100 munching away on a single, almost skeletonised, laurel leaf. These are about 1mm diam., which is pretty big for a mite. With eight legs they are related to the spiders, and are arachnids. There are many species world-wide, many of economic importance for the damage they do - just think of the house dust mite and the allergies it causes.