Recently I came to the conclusion that mites are one of the most under-appreciated groups. Still, I was shocked to find out about
Demodex folliculorum, a weirdly elongate mite that lives only in the hair follicles of humans.
Demodex brevis, possibly a sister species, lives only in our
sebaceous glands. Adults max out at a whopping .4mm, small enough to allow many to lay eggs on your eyelids
(apparently a preferred location) without you even knowing they existed. What are the chances you are infected by
Demodex? It depends on your age. Young children are estimated to be infected 1/3 of the time while approximately half of adults are infected. Other than some minor skin irritation the mites cause almost no harm to their host.
First image: a colored SEM of
Demodex.
From:
http://www.avls.nl/_main/images/stories/gezondheid/gezondheid%20demodex%20mijt.jpg
Second image:
Demodex life cycle described from human eyelid.
Third image:
Demodex elongated abdomen visible at the base of a hair.
Second and third images from:
English, F.
et al. (2006) The natural history of demodectic mites on the skin of the eyelid margin.
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. 2(2) 132-136
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