Water mites: varieties, features, danger to humans

Everyone knows that there are ticks that live in forests and represent a considerable danger to humans. Their relatives living in human dwellings, too, cause a lot of trouble. There are ticks that damage the national economy: they destroy plants and parasitize animals.

A subclass of ticks has gained a truly formidable glory ... Some species are so deadly that a person takes all possible measures to destroy them. But on whose side the advantage in this centuries-old war is still a big question.

Against the background of relatives with the reputation of merciless killers and ineradicable pests, water mites seem almost harmless. Many did not hear about this group. Our article will help to fill this gap and tell about the features of life of these animals.

general information

The first thing to focus on is the species affiliation. Some people mistakenly consider ticks as insects, but this is not so. They belong to arachnids.

The family is called Hydrachnidae. The whole life of these mites is associated with the aquatic environment, but in habits they are more similar to terrestrial arachnids, rather than with other aquatic organisms.

Appearance

Consider how the water mites look. Photos help to present this clearly.

Like all arachnids, they have four pairs of legs. The rounded body consists of the abdomen and a relatively small head. Most of the representatives of the group have small sizes, up to 2-3 mm.

As a rule, the body is bright color, from bright yellow to red. Some types of water mites are decorated with ornaments.

Helicya (jaws) are developed, and pedipalps (maxillary tentacles) are equipped with bristles or hooks. In adults, the legs are much longer than the body and are equipped with bristles necessary for movement in water.

Ticks have two or four eyes. According to scientists, they have excellent eyesight, which helps them navigate even in troubled waters.

To consider in detail how a water mite looks, it is possible only under a microscope. But the accumulation of parasites on the host can be seen with the naked eye. For example, the red spots on the back and sides of the bug-water meter are nothing more than a colony of larvae.

Hunting and food

Most water mites are beautiful hunters and predators. They feed on zooplankton, sometimes attack other invertebrates. Some species parasitize, while others prefer native plants and detritus.

Most parasitic species feed on water insects, some are dangerous for mollusks. Parasitism of this group of water mites in most cases does not carry a mortal threat to the owner, nevertheless damages his health, affects the way of life, weakens and causes inconvenience.

Habitat

Among aquatic plants in the shallow water of freshwater bodies there is a wide variety of water mites. Most often these animals settle in lakes, ponds, marshes, river creeks, less often in running water of rivers and even non-drying forest puddles.

Representatives of this group are widespread almost everywhere. A very small number of species can survive in salt water.

Physiology

All kinds of water mites breathe, absorbing the dissolved in the water oxygen surface of the body. The threshold of necessary concentration is extremely low. Even if there is only one part of oxygen per million parts of water, it's enough for the mites. Due to this, the survival rate in polluted waters is very high.

Ticks develop with metamorphosis, that is, larvae are very different from adults in appearance.

The tick appears in the light with six legs. Most species parasitize at the larval stage. Then the larvae will have a difficult life cycle. It includes three juvenile stages. The larva pupates to later turn into a nymph. Nymphs are more like an imago, and her way of life is more mobile. Begin the first attempts to learn independently in the environment, to master the skills of hunting. After a certain time, the nymph also turns into a pupa to become an adult.

Immature individuals spend most of their time in inert states, attaching themselves to an animal or a host plant and existing at its expense. In free swimming you can only see mature sex mites.

Who is Gladys?

Water mites often erroneously include another unusual creature. In fact, gladysh is a water bug. His way of life is similar to the one that water arachnids lead, most of the life the bug-gladysch also spends in water bodies. But these beings are not even in distant relationship.

How not to confuse? Measure the dimensions and count the legs. Gladysh is larger, and he only has 3 pairs of limbs.

Recently, this insect has been attracted by the increased attention of the active users of the Network. On many resources, the fake news of the deadly danger of gladysch, allegedly capable of dying a healthy person in just two days, is rapidly spreading. The reason was a peculiar feature of these creatures. A photo of a male with a brood of eggs on the back looks very unusual, and that is why many believe in the accompanying picture an awesome text.

But this man does not represent any danger. True, at any opportunity to grab in his hands is not worth it - like many relatives-bedbugs, he can painfully snap if he feels that he or his kids are being threatened.

Danger of water mites for humans

Not dangerous to humans and the eight-legged inhabitants of water bodies. Ticks can not bite, much less penetrate the skin. This family feeds on plant food and plankton. Parasitizing species are also not interested in humans.