Mites

Acari, or mites, are a diverse group of arachnids. Second in number only to springtails, they are an omnipresent group of wildlife in the Second Carboniferous, occupying many different niches.

Evolution
Mites are a polyphyletic group, representing many separate lineages in the subclass Acari. Their earliest representatives in the fossil record date back to the Ordovician. Among the survivors of the Sixth Mass Extinction were predatory and detritivorous mites, while most mites with more specialized lifestyles, such as those that relied on a specific host plant or parasitized a particular species of animal, died out. Detritivorous mites faced mild competition with springtails for abundant food, mostly human garbage, while predatory mites preyed on both springtails and their own detritivorous cousins. Stability of their food sources as well as their small size and hardiness allowed these animals to survive the mass extinction and rediversify once the climate cooled and the ecological niches to support them opened up.

Mites, like springtails, radiated quickly about 10 million years after the present, with their anatomy being radically altered and reshaped by the forces of evolution.

Representatives

 * Kite Mites
 * Silk Mites