ID that mite species >_<

[SirKristoff]

its been plagueing my neps for awhile now...ive gotten it under control and only down to like 1 or 2 plants...it came from a nursery and the northeastern US and ill never order from them again because of this...
FINALLY figured out a way to get a good shot of it
its really...really small

 

[petmantis]

Looks like a spider mite... http://www.idahohotsprings.com/images/blog/red_spider_mite.jpg

But i'm no bug expert

 

[SirKristoff]

body shape on this one is different than photographed mantis, ive been looking at different species of spider mite for months now and it looks nothing like what ive photod

 

[petmantis]

Oh i see, sorry i must be going blind

Like i said i'm no bug expert.

 

[SirKristoff]

not leaving out the possibility of spider mites though trust me on that hahahaha.
i also do not see the webbing that is commonly associated with spider mites

 

[DrWurm]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CH021

Perhaps citrus mites that got confused? Apparently they produce very little to no webbing. Could be European mites too, but not sure if they make webbing.

I found mealybugs on one of my nep cuttings today....

 

[SirKristoff]

Hmmm wurm, of all of the mites ive looked at under the microscope from these plants, none of them had those dramatic long front legs.....possibly though

 

[DrWurm]

http://www.oisat.org/images/spiderM.jpg

The closest resemblance I can find is red spider mites. However I read that there are 40000 species of mites, so you might not get a totally conclusive answer.