Red spiders - harmless or a pest?

[Curlykale]

Yesterday when I was weeding my raspberry bed I saw some small, very bright red spiders, with a square-ish shaped body, in the soil.

Are they just spiders, or are they red spider mites?

If they are mites, can anyone suggest how I can get rid of them?

Thanks in advance.

[mrbadexample]

They sound very much like red spider mites. IIRC they don't like damp, humid conditions, so a good old soak should help.

[donnakebab]

How small are they? Red spider mites are tiny and I think I'd struggle to see them in the soil without my glasses unless there were lots of them moving about. The weather conditions at the moment, ie hot and dry, are perfect for them though.

[rustylady]

I doubt very much whether it is red spider mite. These are really tiny. Found this link for you Spiders Scroll down to "Red Velvet Mite". Is this the one?

[donnakebab]

I doubt very much whether it is red spider mite. These are really tiny. Found this link for you Spiders Scroll down to "Red Velvet Mite". Is this the one?

I just had to look didn't I. Itching all over now.

[rustylady]

^ ^ Sorry Donna

[Two_Sheds]

They sound very much like red spider mites.

You'd be forgiven for deducing that spider+red = red spider mite, but they're greenhouse pests, and despite their name they are yellowish-green

[Two_Sheds]

Rusty's right, it's Trombidium

" usually found in the soil or mulch and feeds on vegetable matter. The larval stage ... lives on blood from animals and sometimes humans. As it feeds it releases an anticoagulant which can cause an allergic reaction resulting in a rash "
Red Velvet Mite - a garden friend

[Curlykale]

Thanks Rustylady and TS, I think you are both right. When I first looked at Rustylady's link I was going to say it isn't a trombidium, as the creatures in her link looked a very orangey colour, whereas the 'spiders' I saw were very bright red, but the spider in TS's link is more red, and I did think when I saw 'my' spiders that they looked like velvet. They were very easy to spot with the naked eye so
are too big (and the wrong colour) to be red spider mites. TS on your link it says "Red Velvet Mite - a garden friend" - do they actually do any good, or is it just that they do no harm? (unless of course they give me a rash!)

[mrbadexample]

You'd be forgiven for deducing that spider+red = red spider mite, but they're greenhouse pests, and despite their name they are yellowish-green

Well blow me. I've been getting that wrong for years. Thanks Sheds.

[Two_Sheds]

Awesome photo on this site

the adults "devour ... other mites and their eggs, the eggs of insects and snails... They do not bite humans, neither do they sting "

" The larvae are parasitic... they latch themselves onto passing spiders or insects and suck their blood. They do not injure their hosts, and after a while drop off "
Velvet Mites - Trombidium holosericeum - UK Safari

[Jeanied]

I get these on my plot as well, specially in spring.

I first started to distrust the advice of one of the the old boys on the site when he sucked his teeth and said 'oooh those are red spider mites they will do a lot of damage' - this was after a very icy snowy spell! For a glasshouse pest? I don't think so!

[plymouthred]

Just been doing a few chores in my greenhouse and I have found a couple of spiders in there and not sure if pests or not? They have a fairly small body size, about a quarter of an inch (8mm?) with dark bodies and red legs? They have spun a few webs that actually look better than my garden fleece? I have looked online but no joy in identifying them?

Friend or Foe?

[rustylady]

Just been doing a few chores in my greenhouse and I have found a couple of spiders in there and not sure if pests or not? They have a fairly small body size, about a quarter of an inch (8mm?) with dark bodies and red legs? They have spun a few webs that actually look better than my garden fleece? I have looked online but no joy in identifying them?

Friend or Foe?

Spiders are friends, apart from when they spin a web across the greenhouse door at face height

[francesbean]

I've got these and always seen them as friends, I don't know why they just seemed friendly!. Thinking about it theydidn't seem to be in places where I had any problems with munched leaves or yukky gunk on plants so I've always left them.

francesbean