Concrete Mite

Over the past few days, I’ve received several e-mails about the backsides of pants being stained with red dots after people have sat on concrete park benches or other concrete surfaces. A few messages referenced benches made of wood or recycled plastic.

We're seeing large numbers of tiny, fast-moving bright red mites scurrying around on sunny surfaces such as on picnic tables, patios, sidewalks, concrete retaining walls, and on the outside walls of homes and buildings in southern Ohio. These nuisance mites belong to the genus Balaustium (family Erythraeidae) and are sometimes called "concrete mites" owing to locations where they tend to congregate.