The mite of the previous post had piqued my interest and I was anxious to learn more. A search of the internet failed to provide any new information so it was back to the sample for either an adult or another egg. No adults but I did find another egg, this one intact and still containing what appears to be a fully formed specimen. The shot to the left is focused on the hairy fringe which seems to cover the whole egg. Four legs are evident near the bottom of the egg and a dark area might indicate where the head is located.
Here is another area of focus, this time nearer to the upper, outer surface.
At this point something odd happened that I just didn't catch while viewing through the microscope. Either some debris floated up to the egg or the evaporating water brought some debris closer to the egg. In either case, the bottom-right area of the egg was covered with small living organisms, as shown in the image to the right. There were two sizes of circular visitors, the small ones easily seen in the image and some much smaller. No idea what they are but the smaller ones might have been bacteria size. Or did the pressure of the cover slip due to receding water cause the egg to break?
Here is a darkfield shot of the scene showing the general mayhem surrounding the egg. The whole field to the bottom right of the egg is a mass of moving things, for want of a better word. I wish I had recorded more of what happened and other details like magnification.
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