This little beauty is an Oribatid (Cepheus) mite nymph. Each ring of ornate scales on the mite's back are a previously moulted exoskeleton!

I've been trying to get a good photo of these for so long, and it turns out all I had to do was go looking around the research station grounds where I work.

#Mite #Oribatid #Acari #SoilFauna #MesoFauna #SoilEcology #SoilEcology #Macrophotgraphy