Image of Nanorchestes Topsent & Trouessart 1890

Description:

Under a high magnification of 2689x, this scanning electron micrograph (SEM) revealed the highly ornate ultrastructural morphology associated with the exoskeletal surface of a mite found on the skin of a deceased lizard, on the grounds of the Decatur, Georgia suburbs. As a member of the specie Nanorchestes sp., Family Nanorchestidae, this is a free-living, fungivorous soil and leaf-litter/moss mite that was simply an incidental finding on the exterior of this lizard. It is not a lizard associate per se and certainly not parasitic.
Created: 2006