House Dust Mite

There are a few species of Dust Mite, each one about as horrid as the last. They can be found all over the world residing in human homes. Probably your home. Eating organic material such as shed skin cells. Probably your skin cells. They need a good amount of moisture and humidity to survive. Your moisture and humidity. No really, they reside in your bed and in your pillow and in your duvet, surviving on bits of your skin and sweat and saliva and your very breath. They wallow in your night-time activities. As you toss and turn, they are the grateful recipients of every drip and drop, every dribble and drizzle, and every gasp and sigh. Pretty sexy, huh?

Image by Gilles San Martin via Flickr

At least they're really tiny. Or maybe that makes it worse? They're not quite microscopic, but they are a bit less than half a millimetre long. They are also very pale in colour so to see them you need a dark background and good light. Like most mites, they look extremely fat to the point of almost being spherical. In close up pictures you can see the grooves on their cuticle, which I find makes them look a bit like a zombie thumb on legs. It also looks rather alien, maybe some kind of face-hugger. Or you could make it a few metres bigger, add a couple of cannons and guns and you'll have some kind of lumbering biological tank! Or maybe I should just play less video games... nah, I'm fine.

So far, the dust mite is unwelcome but basically tolerable if you don't ponder the issue. The problems really come for people who suffer allergies. Dust mites have very simple guts which I guess work well enough, especially since the dusties choose food particles that are already partly decomposed by fungi. Still, out the other end comes faeces of course, but more often it's partially digested dust covered in enzymes. These droppings have affects on the skin and can also result in an unnecessary, hypersensitive reaction from our immune system. This allergic reaction leads to sneezing, watering of the eyes and a runny nose among other symptoms.

Image by Gilles San Martin via Flickr

Dust mites wreak this havoc during a lifetime that averages 1 or 2 weeks. Females with eggs to lay can last for more like 70 weeks, leaving behind 60 to 100 bouncing babies. Eventually there could be some 10 million dust mites residing in a bed. Should this bed start to get a bit too uncomfortable, studies have shown that they pack up and leave en masse, swarming to pastures new. Something has got to be done!

The good news is that dust mites are not as robust as our very own bedbugs. A good wash in hot water or a hot dryer can kill all the dust mites and rid pillows of almost all the droppings. They can also be frozen, dried or poisoned, so you have some options for your murderous destruction. Be creative! Show them who's boss! They may be ugly, but they're not big. Neither are they the laser beam armed mechanoids of an interstellar attack force of bloodthirsty alien zombies. Just in case you were wondering.