Oribatid Mites are a group of mites which live in the soil. There are many, many mites which live in the soil, collectively called "soil mites," but this page focuses on mites in the Oribatidae Family. There are more Oribatid Mites than any other soil mites. Oribatid Mites are tiny. They only grow up to a millimeter long. Their color can vary, but they all have a hard exoskeleton (shell). Like all mites, these animals are close relatives of ticks and spiders.

Copyright, Ray Norton

Oribatid Mites live in the top layer of the soil, leaf litter, or other debris (stuff laying on top of the soil). They can also be found on mosses, lichens, and other low plants. These mites live in huge numbers. Hundreds of thousands of mites can live in one square meter of soil. To see one well, you would need a microscope. Oribatid Mites do not need to mate to make more mites. Females can lay eggs on their own.

Oribatid Mites eat fungi, algae, and dead plant matter. They also eat dead springtails (tiny insects that live in the soil) and live nematodes (tiny worms). These mites are extremely important. They break down old material, such as dead leaves, and put the nutrients back into the soil. This allows living plants to pull the nutrients back into their roots so they can grow and feed animals. Without Oribatid Mites and other soil mites to "recycle" old material on the ground, plants and animals could not survive. That includes us!

Copyright, Ray Norton

Copyright, Ray Norton

Soil mites are also a food source for soil predators, including: small salamanders, beetles, ants, centipedes, larger mites, spiders, and others. Even though they are tiny, soil mites can also be hosts for parasites, such as tapeworms. Oribatid Mites are born from eggs as nymphs. Nymphs are a smaller, slightly different-looking version of adults. As nymphs eat and grow, they molt (shed their skins). Each time they molt, the nymphs look more like an adult mite.

Oribatid Mites cannot burrow through the soil. They rely on larger animals to make tunnels so they can move around.

Relationships in Nature:

FOOD	PREDATORS	SHELTER	OTHER
Black Oak (dead leaves, bark)	Garden Centipede	White Cushion Moss	Common Black Ground Beetle C
America Elm (dead leaves, bark)	Common Black Ground Beetle	Common Greenshield	Eastern Subterranean Termite C
Mockernut Hickory (dead leaves, bark)	Black Carpenter Ant	British Soldiers	Eastern Mole C
American Beech (dead leaves, bark)	Daring Jumpin Spider		Woodchuck C
Eastern White Pine (dead leaves, bark)	Red-backed Salamander		Eastern Chipmunk C
Sassafras (dead leaves, bark)	Spotted Salamander		Red-backed Salamander C
Witch Hazel (dead leaves, bark)	Marbled Salamander		Spotted Salamander C
Elegant Stinkhorn	Eastern Newt		Marbled Salamander C
Honey Mushroom			Eastern Worm Snake C
Meadow Mushroom			Dung Beetle C
Common Dandelion (dead leaves, stems)
White Cushion Moss (dead leaves, stems)
Nematode
Snow Flea (dead)
Common Greenshield
British Soldiers

Relationship to Humans:

As mentioned above, Oribatid Mites and other soil mites are extremely important as decomposers. They break down old dead stuff and turn it into soil with lots of nutrients. All living things benefit from the job they do. The presence of lots of mites is a sign of healthy soil. Scientists can study the mites they find in the soil to learn how clean and healthy it is.

Most of the time, people walk upon the soil and don't even know there are millions of mites under their feet!

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

KINGDOM Animal PHYLUM Arthropod CLASS Arachnid ORDER Acarini FAMILY Oribatidae GENUS several genera SPECIES many species

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