Everything you need to know about the beneficial organism

the essentials in brief

• Red velvet mite is one of the beneficial organisms in the garden, as it kills pests and their eggs.
• It is particularly common in warm and dry places, such as B. on the terrace or in the living room.
• However, it can be kept away with simple means (insect screens, pollen nets).
• The species is easily affected by outwardly very similar pests, e.g. B. the fruit tree spider mite.

What is the red velvet mite?

The bright red colored red velvet mite (lat. Trombidium holosericeum) is a native representative of the so-called running mites. The animals are popularly known as velvet mites or mites and are widespread.

In the summer months - but especially in autumn, when it gets cooler - they like to be in Homes and apartments cozy, after all, they are looking for a suitable option for that Wintering. The red velvet mite is one of the predatory mite species and feeds primarily on other insects and their eggs.

Little red spiders in the garden or on the terrace? Recognize and differentiate between species

Not every red arachnid that crawls in your garden or on the living room carpet is a red velvet spider. There are many different small, red arachnids, and some of them are actually not wanted in the garden. So before you pull out the vermin spray or want to fight the red velvet mite in any other way, first take a look at what species it actually is.View post

The useful red velvet mite is particularly common with the fruit tree spider mite or Confused red spider. For this reason, the following table gives you an overview of the respective species-typical characteristics to help you distinguish them better.

Is the red velvet mite dangerous?

The velvet mite is neither dangerous for humans nor for pets

No, the red velvet mite is not dangerous - at least not for people, pets or garden plants. The little animals are actually only interested in other, ground-living and soft-skinned insects that they hunt and suckle. Most of all, however, they prefer to eat insects, especially pests that are common in the garden, and thus curb their populations.

If you often find this type on your terrace or even in your apartment, then there is a very simple reason: it is already warm and dry there. Mites prefer such a climate, not only (but especially) in autumn when they are looking for a suitable place to hibernate.

How do I recognize the red velvet mite bite?

Since the red velvet mite does not have a sting, it cannot sting. In addition, their mouthparts are not pronounced enough to penetrate human skin, for example. So this species cannot bite either! A possible mite bite can be traced back to completely different species, such as these:

• Fall or harvest mite: yellow to pale red, tiny mites that prefer to be in damp places in the garden (also in compost) and are often responsible for very itchy bites
• Grave or Itch mite: Sarcoptes scabiei, caused by burrows in the skin scabies
• Bird mites: Infestation occurs more frequently in bird keepers (chickens, pigeons, etc.), but can also be transmitted by infested garden birds (e. B. through contact with contaminated nests)
• Grass mites: Grass mites are very common in the garden and like to bite

Characteristic of mite bites are:

• red spots on the skin
• often do not occur singly, but multiple times (multiple bites)
• itch badly
• The cause has often already disappeared, so itchy areas are usually inexplicable

Digression

Does the red velvet mite actually transmit borreliosis?

Do I have to fight the red velvet mite?

Red velvet mites should not be fought, but encouraged

The red velvet spider is a real beneficial insect, because the industrious little animal eats all sorts of insects that are harmful to garden plants, such as aphids, with a great appetite Snail eggs. For this purpose, the adult animals not only run around on the ground, but also on walls and on plants. So if you spot red arachnids on your vine or apple tree, it is not automatic a fruit tree spider mite - instead it can also be a red velvet spider on the hunt for the fruit tree spider mite be.

Incidentally, it is sometimes claimed that the animal itself would occasionally draw off sap from the plant. This is wrong as it is a pure one Hunter acts. The mistake probably arises from the confusion with the fruit tree spider mite, also known as the “red spider” and outwardly quite similar.

As a result, fighting the red velvet spider makes little sense, after all, you would deprive yourself of an important fighter against the pest plague in the garden.

Fascinating shots of hunting red velvet spiders are shown in the following video:

Red velvet mite is important for healthy soil

Not only does the red velvet mite kill harmful insects and their eggs, it is for another reason important for the garden: it is part of the arthropods that maintain the structure of the soil and is also relevant for the Humus formation. The species spends two stages of development in the soil surface, where it feeds on bacteria and fungi in addition to soil-dwelling insects and insect eggs. Therefore, it contributes to the splitting of the soil components and thus to the formation of what is so important for plant growth humus at.

Red velvet mite in the house? This is how you get rid of the animals

Sometimes, however, the animals appear too numerous on the terrace or even in the apartment that you would like to get rid of them despite all the advantages. This works best with the following methods.

Digression

Red arachnids in the chicken coop

Spray the terrace with water

Red velvet mites especially like to stay in dry places. So you can easily see the animals from their terrace or Expel from the living room by keeping the surfaces moist. You should therefore regularly spray stone surfaces with the Garden hose starting with, whereby you should direct your main focus on buildings made of natural stone. Water the garden - and especially the lawn! - more often during more intense dry periods and do not forget to wipe the garden furniture.

Build a barrier out of thick glass

A defense barrier made of thick glass (e. B. thick-walled glass blocks), because the red velvet mite (and also some other annoying insect and mite species) find it quite uncomfortable to walk over such a surface. In this way you reliably keep the animals on the terrace and in the house at bay and also create an attractive decorative element.

Keep doors and windows closed

Velvet mites are hated to be seen in the house

To prevent the little crawlers from getting lost in your apartment, you should keep doors and windows closed, especially overnight. During the evening hours, red velvet mites look for a warm place to stay and therefore like to wander into houses. However, if all openings are closed, the animals must stay outside. Caution: Red velvet mites can also get through cat flaps and doors or windows that are not tightly closed. Because of their small size, they can take advantage of virtually any loophole. Another disadvantage of this method is that very few people like to lock all doors and windows in summer.

Digression

Do not crush red velvet mite

Install insect screens

Especially if you are on the ground floor or If you live on the mezzanine floor of a house or have a terrace opening into the garden, you can sometimes be teeming with small red arachnids. It is warm and dry in your apartment, which the red velvet mite appreciates and therefore likes to claim for itself. It is therefore best to keep the arachnids with a close-meshed insect protection net in advance. -grid far. Such devices are easy to install and also offer the advantage that they also reliably keep other annoying insect species away. In addition, you can now leave doors and windows open to your heart's content.

Vermin spray - yes or no?

If nothing else helps, you can use vermin spray to spray an odor barrier around the patio or in front of the patio door. These agents are more effective than traditional vermin spray, which tries to kill the mites (and is not really successful with it). However, under no circumstances should you use these agents indoors (toxins!) And think carefully about how to use them. Biocides are not only effective against the red velvet mite, they also have other serious disadvantages:

• The effect lasts between six weeks and six months, depending on the product.
• Biocides are also effective against other insects, some of which are important for the garden (bees, bumblebees).
• They are also extremely toxic to aquatic organisms.
• As a result, they may seriously pollute water sources in the garden.
• Biocides irritate the skin and the mucous membranes.
• If used incorrectly, it can cause eczema, rashes, or cracks in the skin.

Nevertheless, such a chemical odor barrier can be useful if, for example, the population of the red The velvet spider is taking over and there is no other way to help yourself in the face of the sheer mass to know.

frequently asked Questions

How common is the red velvet mite?

The red velvet mite is widespread in Central and Southern Europe. It does not prefer special habitats, but occurs just as frequently in mixed forests, between rocks, in the dry desert and in gardens as it does in apartments and houses. From late spring and throughout the summer you can see the small animals scurrying across the ground, sometimes appearing in larger numbers.

What does the red velvet mite eat?

The red velvet mite is one of the predatory mites and lives parasitically on other insects even as a nymph. Here it sucks in the tissue fluid from its host for several days - harvesters (Opilio parietinus), for example, are often affected - but only very rarely blood. As an adult, it hunts ground-dwelling insects and their larvae, such as fringed winged caterpillars, small caterpillars, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, aphids and plant lice, other mites and their eggs. The red velvet mite can eat up to 40 aphids per day.

How can I distinguish harmful from beneficial mite species?

Red spider or red velvet spider? Pest or beneficial insect? In the garden, this distinction can be very important and should therefore not be made too hastily. However, the speed of movement gives you an indication of the possible species: Predators Mites (such as the useful red velvet spider) are generally quick on the move and are constantly scurrying around in the garden around. Pests (such as the red spider or Fruit tree spider) are rather slow. No wonder, after all, an apple tree cannot run away.

Help, I found a red spider in my hair! What should I do now?

Nothing at all, except perhaps to carefully pull the little spider out of your hair. Red velvet spiders are not interested in people and bite or bite. they do not sting either, even other red spider species are harmless and only landed on your head by accident. So keep calm and don't worry.

What does the red velvet mite do in winter?

Red velvet mites like to spend the winter where it is warm and dry. Normally, the little animals bury themselves in the upper layers of the soil, where they survive the cold season and then appear as adults in the following spring. The small mites can live up to a year.