Velvet Mite

Velvet mites are a family of mites, Trombidiidae, recognizable by their bright red or orange color and dense, velvety covering of short hairs, found in soil and leaf litter worldwide and often seen crawling across the ground after rain. They are unusual for a mite family in being relatively large and free-living, with larvae that parasitize insects and other arthropods before the adults become free-living predators of small invertebrate eggs.