Kite Mites

The Kite Mites are a group of air-dwelling mites living in the Second Carboniferous.

Description
Kite Mites are large, flat, mat-like organisms which spend their entire lives in the air. Adults range from two to ten feet in diameter depending on the species. They evolved from scavenger mites which adapted for a largely airborne lifestyle and, facing few predators in the air due to the mass extinction, were able to grow very large. Incapable of powered flight, Kite Mites instead rely on their light weight, low density, and aerodynamic shape to stay aloft on air currents for their entire lives. A grounded Kite Mite will usually not survive.

Lacking intelligence, these animals feed continuously and automatically on streams of small airborne organisms, including bacteria, protozoa, tiny spiderlings, and other airborne mites and springtails. They use their pedipalps, modified into long strands covered in thick setae, to filter these organisms out of the air and scrape them directly into their mouths.

Kite Mite reproduction happens entirely in the air. The sexes release their separate gametes, spores which mingle in the air and develop into larvae. Although fully aerial life cycles are most common, some Kite Mite larvae live partially terrestrial lives, feeding on detritus before eventually getting the urge to launch themselves into wind currents where they will spend the rest of their lives.