Foogle Business - Mites - The Mite - Dust Mites - mites

MITES - Minute arachnids related to the ticks. Any of about 20,000 species of tiny arthropod invertebrates belonging to the subclass Acari, sometimes Acarina, or Acarida - of the class Arachnida.

Mites live in varied habitats: in brackish water, in fresh water, in hot springs, in soil, on plants, and as parasites on and in animals. Parasitic forms may live in the nasal passages, lungs, stomach, or deeper body tissues of animals. Some mites are carriers of human and animal diseases. Plant-feeding mites cause damage by feeding on leaf tissues or by transmitting viral diseases.

Mites are small, often microscopic in size—the smallest being about 0.1 mm (0.004 inch) in length and the largest being about 6 mm (0.25 inch)—and they usually have four pairs of legs. In general, they breathe by means of tracheae, or air tubes; in many species, however, respiration takes place through the skin.

Some mites are free-living scavengers or predators. Some are parasitic, such as the itch mite - Sarcoptes scabiei, which burrows into skin, causing scabies in humans and mange in dogs, and the red mite - Dermanyssus gallinae, which sucks blood from poultry and other birds.

Mite. A tiny arachnid, up to 6 mm long, with eight bristly legs. Mites occur in a wide range of habitats throughout the world; some are parasitic on animals, such as the itch mite (Sarcoptes scabei), which causes skin disease in man and animals - see mange. They may transmit diseases, including typhus. Mites are closely related to ticks. See Harvest mite.

The harvest mite - genus Trombicula, is harmless as an adult, but in the larval stage attacks people and animals, penetrating the skin and setting up great irritation. The red spider mite - Tetranychus telarius, is a troublesome pest in greenhouses as it feeds on plant juices. A number of mites live in cheese, flour, and other foodstuffs. They are conveyed from place to place in the larval stage by attaching themselves to flies. Some mites live entirely in the water, and many are parasitic on insects

Did You Know?

Human eyelashes are home to whole colonies of tiny mites. The follicle mite is 0.33 mm/0.01 in long and lives head-down inside the hair follicle. These mites do not restrict themselves to eyelashes, however, but also frequent other parts of the human body with large sebaceous glands – such as nipples.

House dust mites are 0.2-0.3 mm long and translucent. Because of this, they are essentially invisible to the unaided eye. A dust mite's tough, translucent cuticle has deep striations that can be seen from both the dorsal and ventral views, with long setae (hairs) extending from the outer margins of the body and shorter setae on the rest of the body. They have eight legs, no eyes, no antennae and mouthparts in front of their bodies, the head. Female mites lay between 40 and 60 eggs in a lifetime.
Did You Know?

Dust mites live in large numbers on the human scalp, feeding on skin flakes – an activity which causes allergic reactions in asthmatic children. This discovery was announced by Brazilian researchers in 1997, and may explain why repeated vacuuming of bedding does not get rid of dust mites.

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DUST MITES