# Those little red bug dealies... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398 "2005-06-01T16:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/1 "2005-06-01T16:34:53Z")
You know the ones I mean. The ones that seem to live pretty much primarily on brick walls. What on earth are they? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/2 "2005-06-01T17:21:24Z")
[Spider mites](http://www.hydromall.com/infocart_images/growquest/mite1_t.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/3 "2005-06-01T17:28:32Z")
Well, that was quick. Thanks, **Casey**. That’s been bugg- er, bothering me for awhile now. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/4 "2005-06-01T18:09:24Z")
Red spider mites, I thought, live on plants. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/5 "2005-06-01T18:42:45Z")
I’m just going with what my grandfather told me when I was a kid. Aside from the fact that the hill in his yard “looks steeper than it really is, now get mowing boy”, he never misled me. If you can’t trust an old transplanted Cajun, who can you trust? ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/6 "2005-06-01T18:45:00Z")
AFAIK, they are red spider mites. I believe they eat the fungi and/or moss that grow on brick and rocks. **Colibri** would be the man in the know about this. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/7 "2005-06-01T23:41:06Z")
I was gonna say spider mites, because that’s what we always called 'em. But then I tried to google spider mites to get a picture of what I thought the OP was about and my skin started crawling so badly I had to give it up. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/8 "2005-06-02T07:02:48Z")
They do damage to greenhouse plants; causing the leaves to turn yellow and dull - I’m therefore inclined to suggest that their diet at least _includes_ living plant material. They dislike humidity, apparently, and can be controlled by misting with water. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-little-red-bug-dealies/306398/9 "2005-06-02T07:44:34Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > AFAIK, they are red spider mites. > I believe they eat the fungi and/or moss that grow on brick and rocks. > > **Colibri** would be the man in the know about this. I always wondered why they swarm on cement and concrete. I figured there must be a good explanation, but it hadn’t occured to me they were feeding on some moss or fungus I couldn’t see. Hell, I can barely see _them_.