Microscopic black insects in my terrace

[epik]

Hi everyone,

Some days ago I found a bunch of apparently still black dots under the legs of the table I have in my terrace. Initially I thought it was the legs rubber starting to crumble and I cleaned it up.

Today I've seen them again.

I take a sample and put it under the microscope and some black round insect with 8 legs appeared. You can see them in the attached photos.

Is anyone able to tell me what they are?

Are they dangerous? I mean, is there a possibility they invade my house?

How can I get rid of them?

Thank you

Insect size: the head of a pin

Location: North East of Italy

Exposition: their location is always in the shadow

Temperature: this period we have 15°C to 35C°

Beaviour: they move a bit but they essentially stay under the legs of the table.

[bandrow]

Greetings,

Let me preface this by saying that my expertise is in beetles, but I can give you some info for you to follow up on. Having 8 legs eliminates these from being any insect - all insects have 6 legs. It is clearly a mite of some type. There is a very diverse group of mites called the Oribatida to which this bears a striking resemblance. Some of the species are called 'black pepper mites' or 'beetle mites' due to the round, shiny appearance. Under a scope, many look like little armored balls with the legs tucked under a seed-like podonotal shield.

That exhausts all I know about the group, but hopefully it provides some info for you to explore further...

Cheers!
Bandrow