Litinsects

Litinsects #45: Demodex Mites Month of Mites, Part1 Let’s start the mites off right! Today’s post is about DEMODEX mites, also known as (drum roll please) face mites/eyelash mites! And if you believe that ignorance is bliss then I suggest you stop reading now... just kidding, you totally want to know this, I swear. © Palopoli et al. Demodex are a group of mites that live in the hair follicles of mammals. There are two species of Demodex that live on humans and, in fact, cannot survive anywhere else! The first, Demodex folliculorum , measures around 0.3 mm and lives inside hair follicles. The other, Demodex brevis , is around 0.1-0.2 mm and lives in sebaceous glands inside hair follicles (these are the glands that produce your skin oil, known as sebum). Both species feed on dead skin cells and oils inside your pores. Now when I say “your”, I mean literally YOURS... (probably). It used to be thought that they were not so prevalent but more recent studies have found the prevalence ...