1938 ] 
Free-living Mites 
121 
THOMAS SAY’S FREE-LIVING MITES 
REDISCOVERED 1 
By Arthur Paul Jacot 
U. S. Forest Service, New Haven, Conn. 
Thomas Say, the earliest American to record mites from 
the United States, described a possible six species of free 
living mites from eastern Georgia and Florida. They were 
obtained from the late fall to the early spring. Say 
mentions as places visited by him (9) Fernandina (on 
Amelia Island), St. Mary’s, Darien, Cumberland Island, 
and Savannah which he reached (homeward bound) on 
April 11th 1818. 
Although I was able to collect at these localities during 
April, I found the soil and litter so dry that there were very 
few mites about. I was informed by the Weather Bureau 
that it had not rained for two months, a very unusual con- 
dition. The Islands east of Savannah were much burned 
over and I obtained no mites from them. The only type of 
collecting done was to look under the bark of trees and under 
stones — these being the only niches mentioned by Say. I 
found no stones, but a few tiles at one place. They yielded 
nothing. 
Say described two species of Trombidium. I found three 
species of mites resembling Trombidiids, securing nineteen 
specimens of a Smaris, fourteen specimens of a Trombicula, 
and four specimens of a Microtrombidium. All these were 
taken from under the bark of prone trunks. A careful study 
of Say’s T. sericeum reveals a body shape typical of Smaris. 
The only character that does not fit Smaris is the short, 
silken hair. 
Now turning to Say’s T. scabrum. If one divides a Trom- 
1 Aided by a grant of the Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund. 
