Alaskozetes antarcticus
| Alaskozetes antarcticus | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Alaskozetes antarcticus | ||||||||||||
| ( Michael , 1903) |
Alaskozetes antarcticus is a species of mite that can only be found in the Antarctic and the offshore islands. It is one of the most striking of the 70 or so species of mite that live there, as itcan appear in very large numbers,especially on the Antarctic Peninsula . It lives mainly onstones overgrown with moss , the so-called nunatak core , and is bright red in color.
The mites are adapted to their habitat due to a very pronounced cold tolerance and a slowed metabolism.