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I am confused with the small 6 legged specimens I found roaming on mushrooms. All were found on the same day in different collections. All are small (about 1mm body), one collection had 2 long antennae (cs634) which were used for sensing before walking, one has only 1 antenna (cs633) which was waved left and right for sensing and the other had no antennae (cs636).

Their movement reminded me more of arachnids and they look like acari (Family Rhagidiidae) but the 6 legs are distinct (no lost limbs during collection!)

Any idea what they could be?

Collected 8/1/14 (Malta)

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And with 2 antennae

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with no antennae

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The larvae of acari have only six legs. Only adults have eight.

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Thanks Gabor - it makes sense now. they looked like acari but I didn't find anything on the net.

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Interesting mushroom gills. What species ?

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Actually, these are extremely long legs...

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While Gabor is correct - larval acari only have six legs - all your pictures show adults, having lost one, none and both of the front legs.

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>Interesting mushroom gills. What species ?

The mushrrom species is Coprinellus radians, an almost mature specimen. In Coprinus s.l. (ink caps) the mushrooms mature very quickly at which point the gills become black and disintegrate. In this particular specie it takes a few hours longer and doesn't dissolve completely.

>Actually, these are extremely long legs...
So the legs are used for sensing? The behaviour was unusual as the specimens were alternately moving the 'antennae' and rhythmically (left,right) whilst moving rather fast.

>While Gabor is correct - larval acari only have six legs - all your pictures show adults, having lost one, none and both of the front legs.
Very interesting as it seems the loss of the front legs does not affect their movement.

Thank you all for your input.
The specimens are preserved in 75% Ethanol if anyone is interested!

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?Phytoseioidea - but I'm not an expert !