Correction: Make That the Red Velvet Mite

Shortly after I posted the entry about the Red Velvet Button Beetle, I received an email from Don Schwab, a Secular (Third Order) Franciscan and a certified wildlife biologist from Virginia, pointing out to me that the Red Velvet Button Bug could not be a beetle because it had eight legs (beetles have six), and speculated that despite it's large size it could be some kind of a louse, tick or chigger.

I asked Don to let me know if he could pinpoint an exact identification. He took me up on the challenge and sent me the following link to The Chicago Wilderness Magazine that gives an excellent description of the Red Velvet Mite, which happens to inhabit areas in the US as well:

http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/fall2004/mite.html

At least I got the Red Velvet part right.

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