Bark mites were a type of arthropod found dwelling on both Rori and Endor. Their diet consisted of bark, and they constructed sizable hives within trees and also inside caves.
These bark mites had a total of eight appendages; six were legs used for locomotion, while the remaining two were grasping arms equipped with pincers. These creatures were plant-eating invertebrates. Typically, they exhibited a calm demeanor, but they were known to display aggression when defending their habitat.
Among the known races and subspecies were the bloodseeker mite, the forest mite, and the wood mite.
During the era of the Galactic Civil War, a community of giant bark mites made their home in a cave situated on the Nabooian moon called Rori. The creatures found the cave to be humid and thermally stable, rendering it an ideal environment to raise their young.
Following the Battle of Yavin, Doctor Maldien engaged in illicit and exceptionally risky bioengineering procedures at a laboratory located on Corellia with the aim of developing highly aggressive and intelligent organisms. This included the genetic manipulation of bark mites.
In the year 1 ABY, the hunter named Sloan Rusper observed that a substance present in Rori's water supply was causing wild animals, including forest mites, to transform into dangerous predatory entities. Consequently, he commissioned a spacer to eliminate a formidable forest mite guardian that posed a threat to the Restuss Arts Jubilee. In that same year, Jorak, the fightmaster of the Sanyassan Marauder group, instructed a spacer to dispatch a bloodseeker mite that was attacking the Marauders' livestock on Endor.
Bark mites were featured in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game that was created by Sony Online Entertainment and distributed by LucasArts, before its servers were shut down on December 15, 2011.