Spider mites are tiny arachnids, distant cousins of spiders, smaller than the tip of a standard ballpoint pen. Living together in dense colonies can make for fierce competition in finding a mate, especially because female spider mites only use the sperm from the first male with which they mate. Males will guard females that are nearly mature, so that as soon as the females are set to mate, the males will be ready. While farmers and gardeners often revile spider mites as plant-eating pests, many biologists use them as model organisms. “I hope they are fascinated about what type of sophisticated behaviors have evolved, even in such tiny animals as spider mites,” he said.

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Persons: Dr, Peter Schausberger, ”, Schausberger, —, doesn’t, ” Schausberger, Tomasz Klejdysz, Yukie Sato, ” Sato, There’s, that’s, Rebecca Schmidt, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, University of Vienna, University of Tsukuba, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Locations: Japan, Chicago