50 million year old mite attached to ant head found in piece of amber
September 10, 2014
From: Phys.org
by Bob Yirka
A small team of researchers with members from several countries has identified the oldest known instance of a type of mite fossil. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they obtained a piece of amber with an ant embedded inside of it along with a mite that was attached to the ant’s head, and what their work revealed.
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Understanding how mites evolved helps researchers understand mites that exist today, which is important because they attach themselves to bees, ants and other creatures, some of which play very important ecological roles—one type, for example, Varroa mites, are known to be honey bee pests and may be playing a role in colony collapse.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-09-million-year-mite-ant-piece.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-09-million-year-mite-ant-piece.html#jCp
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