When we took a picture of this little critter – one of the first ‘bugs’ we’ve seen this spring – we realized that we didn’t know what it was. We had both seen them all our lives – like little balls of velvet with legs, we had often found them crawling about in the deep woods – impossible bright dots on brown leaves or bark. Thinking that they were mites of some kind, we typed ’spider mite’ into google and were dismayed to find nothing except for a lot of references to the extermination of everything ‘mite-ish’. It took a lot of digging to discover that our observation of the creature’s velvety appearance held the key to its name – we had taken a photo of a red velvet mite.
Hailing from the family Trombidiidae, there is actually very little known about these creatures – Liam Heneghan, an ecosystem ecologist from DePaul University who was interviewed in this article for Chicago Wilderness Magazine, called them an ‘under-researched enigma’. He did explain that they are chelicerates, making them closely related to spiders and scorpions, and told of their fascinating mating ‘dance’, where the male lays down sperm along a branch and then crafts a silken trail to entice females to come and sit down on his sperm. He also hinted that their bright red color is a warning that the mites have a terrible taste – he said that he’s placed them on anthills and observed no ants moving in for what would seem like an easy meal.
It’s known that the red velvet mites play a vital role in the decomposition process. But the details of that role are still missing.
We’re going to pay more attention this summer when we see one of these little mites. They can be fast, and in the varied terrain of leaf-litter they’re not always easy to follow, but we’re excited to see if we can get a glimpse into their lives. If anyone else knows any interesting facts or has had their own experiences with the red velvet mite, we’d love to hear your observations in the comments!
Here is another picture sent in by a reader:
Thanks mmk!
Posted on April 6th, 2009 by Kenton and Rebecca
Filed under: Bugs and Crawlies!
Wonderful! I first encountered these creatures as a grad student in Arizona– one of many startling invertebrates I learned about that first year in the desert. Had no idea they were in your bailiwick, but… nice of you to share them with all of us.
Oh, and as I recall, they came out only briefly, a few days perhaps, after rain…
Hello Sally — We think there are uncounted species of these critters that must range over diverse habitats — we thought they were only dwelling in constantly moist areas like the deep forest, but you’ve described finding them in the desert. Fascinating! They certainly are mysterious little creatures, and so unexpected when you see one.
Thanks for your comment!
Amazing little thing!
Hello mon@rch –
Isn’t it? We just saw another one the other day while digging for our garden. Such curious little creatures . . .
Seen these gentle creatures at the start of every monsoon in south punjab(Bathinda) as a kid, about 25-30 years back. Only they were larger, from about 3mm – about 8mm across at the trunk. i’m wondering why none of the web literature mentions this size. my mum told me they are called ‘Velvet Boochies’ and i would keep them in a jam bottle, assuming it would eat the grass kept along with it. none of them ever survived overnight.
Greetings Deepak,
What a great name for them — Velvet Boochies =) It’s quite interesting that none survived the night. There are so many species of these mites — we saw a large one the other day, but it was no more than 4mm. 8mm would be a true giant, but it sounds as if mites of this size were common for you to find? It’s not a well-known family, so perhaps you were seeing a species that hasn’t yet been described in scientific literature.
We have these little bright mites in the country here in West Texas, Big Spring to be exact. I just moved out here and never noticed them in town but they are everywhere you look out here after a rain. In fact a friend calls them rain bugs. I have to watch where I am walking to keep from stepping on them. They range in size from about 2mm to about 8mm. I was out taking pics yesterday. Nice to know a little more about them.
Hello Julie,
These are apparently all over the world, and have a propensity to become more active after rain. They sure are amazing little buggers, aren’t they?
Hi Kenton, Rebecca,
In India, they’re commonly referred to as ‘Bir Bohotti’ or ‘Birbaboti’. They’re very popular with kids in India who collect them in match boxes. Unfortunately, as Deepak said, the misconception is that they eat grass or even red soil so they don’t survive long in captivity. I’ve seen these grow up to 1 cm. From what I could gather on the internet, they eat larva and eggs of other insects, and can live up to 18 months. I live in Houston and I would really like to get my hands on a few so I can learn how to successfully keep them alive in captivity. Any suggestions on how I can find them?
Raza
Houston, TX
Hello Raza,
Thanks for the great info! We loved hearing that kids collected them — but it would be nice to be able to help people understand what they need to survive in captivity. We’re excited for your experiment! Please let us know if you are successful.
The climate is much different in Houston, of course, but it seems that a lot of people report finding them after a rain. We mounted two small expeditions in the last two days so that we’d be able to answer your question, but curiously we didn’t find any! Usually, they seem almost ubiquitous in the environment, but perhaps the weather lately (rain, heat, high humidity) is keeping them in their little homes. Usually, we find them on dead logs, and often on bare soil — but our guess is that it’s simply that we’re seeing them because they’re on a surface which makes them more visible. If we ever figure out more about their habits of appearance, we’ll post it here =)
Hi Kenton, Rebecca,
Thanks for your efforts. It would be great to finally figure out what these little ones eat and how to keep them alive and share that info back home. Part of this effort is driven by my guilt as a kid for mistreating so many albeit with the best of intentions. India has one of the most amazing varieties of wild life but unfortunately the concept of animal rights is almost non-existent there. In my home town, Hyderabad, we have a fairly large zoo (380 acres) but since it’s govt run, the condition of the place is below par. I went ahead and put up a site for them. http://www.hyderabadzoo.in …an improvement over what they had before http://www.hyderabadzoo.org. Thanks to cable tv, people are getting more informed tho.
Raza
Hi everyone,
I returned from Rajasthan yesterday, and to my surprise I saw two of these red little velvet like bugs. I picked them up and played with them, they were sooooooo cute. I never saw anything like them.
Its amazing what nature brings to us, if we look. They were soft like jelly, and didn’t bite. They were in the middle of the parking lot of a hotel I stayed at. I was there two days and only found two bugs. I moved them to the side of the driveway so they didn’t get run over. I couldn’t believe how bright red they were. I wanted to take them home but I knew that they won’t survive if I did. So I left them where I found them. Wow.
Leena
Hello Leena Desai!
Thanks for saving those two. We saw on the other day on our deck — all we could do is stare! They are truly beautiful, and so mysterious! What are they up to? Thanks for the fun comment!
I was hiking today in southern AZ east of Tucson and we encountered about a dozen of these creatures. We had never seen them before. It was on a trail in the low desert on the side of a canyon. It rained the night before and reading about them, this is probably what brought them out.
Hello Mike — Another rain connection! They’re getting more difficult to spot here in Wisconsin, since the undergrowth has pretty much turned things into a jungle.
Seeing them for the first time must be really amazing. Their vivid color always startles us!
I grew up in Nagpur, India, and I have seen them off and on in grassy fields following the monsoon rains. I was often tempted to bring one home but never did as I always thought they will miss their family and friends. Now I have 2 children and often tell them stories from my childhood, I hope I can show them the mysterious Velvet boochies someday. Interestingly enough, there are juicy red small velvety berries that grow in hotter places in India, the phalsa berries, which are extremely delicious, I searched on the net and found that they are called Juniper berries globally. The velvet touch being the common amongst the two, the boochies and the phalse go hand in hand in my memories of outdoor escapades as a kid.
Hello Sonali, Redmond!
What a wonderful thing to hear! It’s amazing how memories from our childhoods can become blended into such magical tales. We hope that your children enjoy the stories that you share! We’ll have to see if we can learn more about the phalsa berries from the internet or the library =)
I was delighted to spot the red mite (Birbaboti as referred to by Hyderabadis) crawling across the walkway inside the KBR national park early in the morning today. The park,some 400 acres of natural brush located smack in the middle of the bustling city of Hyderabad attracts hundreds of nature lovers for brisk walks.
These cudly mites crawl out of the ground after a day of showers. Like the rest of India, Hyderabad too has been concerned at the paucity of rainfall this year. Witnessing this Birbaboti which we used to play with as children, reassures me that the monsoon will be adequate after all
Dear Syed Ali Ishrati,
I am so happy to hear that the Birababoti has served as a harbinger of rains to come! What wondrous little creatures they are! Thanks for taking the time to share this wonderful story =)
Hi Ali Ishrati,
Glad to see a fellow Hyderabadi run into birbabotis at KBR. I’ve never been to that park. I’ll check it out on my next trip to Hyderabad.
P.S. Do you know Samad Ishrati from Chicago?
Hi!
Just one last thing, are you Christians? If not then what are you?
I am writing a science paper on the velvet mite and I can only use one source on the computer. I have decided to use yours! I am in 7th grade and I am home schooled. Homeschooling is so much fun! Right now I am learning to draw the world. We started with South America, we had two weeks to learn all the countries, capitals, some boies of water, a few other features such as the Galapagos Isles and Teara del Fuego and to learn to draw it. Than we did Canada, we also had two weeks to learn the provinces and capitals plus many bodies of water and rivers also a few other features. Then we did Meso Amercia, we had two weeks again andwe had to mark ALL of the lesser Antilies (sp?) Now we are doing the USA, we have three weeks but there are 40 rivers, 16 other water features and 50 states (as I’m sure you know). I am on my 2nd week and I still haven’t finished looking up all the rivers in my atlas. I have made 100’s on all my tests so far! My plan is to try really hard and make A’s on all my geo tests all year. At the end of the year we draw the WHOLE WORL all at once, marking all the countries, provinces and capitals. I love home schooling! I am 12 yrs old, my birthday is Dec 23rd, I was doing Algebra 1 but I wasn’t really getting it so I took a step back to Algebra 1/2. I really like math, I just don’t like doing the lessons in my book. I hope I’m not wasting your time telling you about my school work
please reply very soon,
Sara
Sorry for all the mess-ups
I clicked summit before rereading it. Oops!
Sara
oops again, *submit
Hi Sara!
Please accept our apologies for the late reply — we are in a film right now, and don’t get to check our email or blog very often.
Thanks so much for using us as your ‘Red Velvet Mite’ source! With all the great comments people have left, we’ve learned a lot about these little creatures!
It sounds like you’re doing awesome in school! We have a lot of friends who are homeschooled or who homeschool their children, and we love to do our snake presentations for homeschoolers, as they’re among the brightest audiences we’ve encountered. Keep up the awesome work — it’s great to hear that you have so much excitement about what you’re learning. Those who carry that excitement for their whole lives are the ones who really seem to enjoy life the most.
No, we’re not necessarily Christians. Closer to Zen or Taoism, but it might be closest to say that we’re just part of nature.
Thanks so much for writing!
Sweetwater,
Kenton and Rebecca
waaaw, I’m from the United Arab emirates and this is a blast from the past the last time I’ve been in India was 18 years ago in Hyderabad and yes i’ve encountered these creatures many times during the monsoon .. and if i remember correctly they grow even larger than 1.5CM and I’m sure Raza remembers the song the kids sing for these creature ” Birbaboti kol ja” which means “Birbaboti open up ” because they curl up when you hold them and I think they react to the sound and then they start opening up.
Fascinating! It would be wonderful to hear the song. We’ve appreciated so much how so many people have contributed their thoughts, remembrances, and knowledge about these creatures. Thanks for adding yours!
i stumbled upon your site by chance and it really made me nostalgic and brought back fond memories of my childhood. i too, like a couple of your respondents, hail from the south indian city of Hyderabad, although i’ve been living in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia for the past 34 years. my (maternal) grandparents had a big house (2500 sq.yds) in what was then the outskirts of the city, with a huge garden. i remember after the first rains of the monsoon we used to get up early and run to the lawn to see if the velvet bugs had emerged and we were rarely disappointed. after spending almost the entire year underground these critters emerged briefly after the first rains of the monsoon and then disappeared again when the rains got heavier. the lawn used to be literally carpeted with these beautiful soft to the touch bugs. this is perpahs the only bug people wudn’t mind crawling all over them. the minute they were touched they would roll into a tight ball and it wud be a while before they became active again. i have often wondered how deep into the earth they burrow and live for nearly 11 months of the year. hope someone will delve deeper into this and unravel the mystery.
kind rgds/tyyeb
fascinating reading about a bug i hv always loved!
Hello tyyeb!
We can hardly imagine so many of them! They must have been so beautiful, emerging in such great numbers. We want to go to India just to see them =)
This has been a remarkable post, in that the comments tell so much more than we ever could have written. Thank you for adding your voice and helping to bring back memories for those people who have experienced these wondrous creatures emerging after the first monsoon rains.
I grew up in South Texas. I remeber these insects growing up and was absolutely fascinated by them. I loved to search for them after the rains; however, I recall many more when I was younger (about 15 yrs ago) than what I see now. My mother told me they were ‘angels’ when I inqired as to what they were.
Hi Debra!
Angels! Another new name for them! We’ve been watching the first ones emerge this spring, and sitting mystified as we watch them wander about in their mysterious errands. Every year we are re-amazed at the impossible red color, the soft and furry velvet. If we were more their size, they seem like they’d be great for cuddling!
hey guys im in 3rd grade and i was useing this info for my assignment THEY ARE SO INTERESTING if these critters are white my brother is useing like perying mantis to kill them from eating our roses THIs info is so helpful i hope i get a A+ in 3rd grade form with this stuff
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Shane!
We hope you get an A+ too! Good luck! =)
Like all of you here, I belong to Hyderabad in my childhood I use to catch those little Velvet creature called “BirBaBooti” I use to keep in my Aluminum school box , yes they die in a day or two and yes we thought they eat grass but i don’t think so thats how they die (starving death), I think they lay eggs but don’t remember now, dam!! after 40yrs of age we tend to forget childhood. I still dream about them (catching and keeping them in that box) by the way after that short while of emerging “BirBaBootis” I could not find them again even I dig for atleast a meter deep I don’t know how come they disappear so quickly.
Now I am in US since 9yrs and roam around so many states but never found a single “BirBaBooti” .
Here is a request if anyone of you got a pic of BirBaBooti please post it here. I love them all my life.
Also there is a flying bug called “Bhanvara” it has green shiny solid hard wings (like metallic paint) it is usually found in the begining of mansoon and usually on a Berry tree (bare ka jhad), the food for this flying creature is leaves of Berry tree, it looks like firefly but much larger size maybe two to three inches, It has a unique quality it can pinch your finger in its neck (between head and body) I got pinched many times, definately I remember I lay eggs (different colors, green, red, pink) the egg size is equal to poppy seed.
Hello Zaheer,
What beautiful memories! Thank you for sharing. These little creatures left quite an impression on so many people. If you remember anything else about them, please share, as they are quite mysterious.
Thanks as well for telling us about Bhanvara. If anyone knows what this might be, do let us know.
hello,hey i have them now at home.last week had gone to our farm house n we collected nearly 40 of them ,right from a tiny one to a big one.am going to leave them in the garden as i dont know if they will survive in captivity and also what do they eat?
Hi mmk,
That’s a lot of them! As for what they eat, it’s a fun experiment to watch them and see if you can see them eat anything. We’ve watched and watched, but it’s very difficult to tell if they’re eating anything. Apparently, they’re actually hunting, eating very tiny critters.
hello kenton and rebecca,
I left them in the garden yesterday coz they were not looking too good and i feared they might die,but took a couple of pictures of them though.wonder if i can post them on ur site???
Hi mmk —
Some people have asked for more pictures to be posted — please send them to us at the following address: spiderslippers (at) yahoo (dot) com, and we’ll post them above. We’re excited to see them! =)
hello kenton and rebecca,
have sent a few pictures of birbaboti’s ,hope you will like them.
have a nice day.
my husband and i live in a rural area in south eastern new mexico. on our land we found red velvet mites, have you ever heard of them in new mexico? also do you know how to get rid of them because we don’t want to spread?
Thank God there are other people who have had these as pets! I was just googlin when I found this blog and being an Indian myself, this brought back fond memories
I miss those bugs a lot!!! They were the cutest ever! I used to keep them with me in a liddle homemade garden and they each had name!! Omg they were the cutest ever!! Now I live on a mountain and a year ago I saw a baby velvet mite, I was so happy, but while I was walking it flew out of my hand 
Haven’t seen one ever since. Really wish I could! Thanks so much for bringin back some nice memories guys!
Hi D’aun,
We have heard of them in New Mexico. As far as getting rid of them, they are apparently 100% harmless, and are actually very important in the soil for helping things grow. So if you have any plants you like in your yard, those mites are helping them stay as green as possible. They spend most of their time hidden, so you probably will only see them at certain times.
Hello Susie!
Glad we could help! =) We sure love those little critters. How wonderful that you named them all! And that must have been so sad to meet one and then lose it — we’re not sure where you’re writing from, but if you check carefully in the leaf litter and on some old logs, perhaps you’ll find one again. We wish you the best of luck Susie!