My yard is crawling with tiny, tiny red mites. Every surface is covered with them and they are getting into the house now. These are smaller than most mites I have seen, the size of the "point" of a pin, not the head of a pin. Obviously something is out of whack. I can't imagine what it would be? I haven't used any chemicals this year, and last year I just did Roundup on my lawn, twice. I live in an urban neighborhood, my yard is a tiny square, and since it is a rowhouse, connected to other tiny squares.

Could it be my pine bark mulch? Or my compost bin? The compost just comes from my kitchen and yard. They are not in the front yard, just in the back. The front is just grass, which gets Roundup twice a year too, but no pinebark mulch. I'm not giving up my bark mulch, but I might switch to something else. I use pinebark because I have a lot of acid loving plants.

These mites are more of a nuisance than anything else, and a curiosity. I hate that they are getting in the house. The back of my house is covered with them though!