Mite

5619  Saw this guy today on Vancouver Island in Qualicum beach. Was about 8 degrees and partly overcast. He was on a large granite boulder that is covered in lichen and moss.   Maybe 1/3 centimeter in length. Scarlet red. Thought a spider because 8 legs but looks like a tick. But has a long proboscis and antenna?  Very interested to know what this little guy was.  Thank you! – Tanya
A puzzler! I first thought that this would be a giant red velvet mite (family Trombidiidae), but on enlarging the image, I could see that its body shape and texture were wrong for that. I now believe that this is Neomulgus littoralis, a snout mite in the family Bdellidae – see http://tinyurl.com/gt76obg for an image. These mites reportedly use their sharp mouthparts to suck the bodily fluids of kelp flies. Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.