NO. 1382. 



THE ACARIXA OR MITES— BAXKS. 



Cu 



The hxrvx and nymphs are, always monodactyle — that is, Avith one 



chiw to tarsus. Their skin is soft and 

 tiexil>le. There ai-e few creatures more 

 bizarre or remarkable than tlie nj^mphs 

 M 'vVJI WJ> of certain Oribatidte. Some bear upon 



the back concentric rings of beautifully 



Fli:. VJ.i'i. — ORIEATEI.L.^ SP. (PERGAXIIR). 



Fig. 127.— Li.\CARi"S nitiim'.s. 



iridescent, membraneous, fan-shaped scales. Others carry a collection 

 of their molted skins, eo-oshells, l)its 

 of dirt, moss, etc. — a veritable ped- 

 dlers' pack of trash. Many species 

 have rows of serrate hairs on th(>ir 

 backs. The skin of the ))ack of many 

 nymphs is wrinkled so as to allow 

 for g-rowth. Many of these nymphs 

 w^ere described l\y early writers on 

 Acari as distinct species. 



When a nymph is about to become 

 an imag'o, it seeks some sheltered 

 spot and tixing its legs tirmly in the 

 substance upon which it rests, it grad- 

 ually becomes inert and apparently 

 dead. It remains in this condition 

 about ten da3"s. When al)out to 

 transform to the adult the skin 

 splits behind and shows the imago 

 beneath; this split increases without 

 an}^ perceptible movement of the 

 mite, until it is quite large, when 

 the mite begins to back out of its 

 old shell. It may then be seen that 

 the legs of the adult are not Avith- 

 drawn from the legs of the nymph, but were folded beneath the adult. 



Fig. 128. — LlACARl'.S .SI'., NYMPH. 



