Adventures with the Gamasina: eureka moments on the path to enlightenment

I recount here some of the unexpected, oftentimes amazing, and occasionally momentous events that have highlighted more than a half century of research on the Gamasina. These “eureka moments” were experienced during the course of studies on behavior, surface chemistry, and functional morphology of mites in the families Macrochelidae, Laelapidae, and Parasitidae.