These Eight-Legged Beings Live in Our Faces and Amount of Many

Without us knowing it, we all have a number of animals that live on the surface of our faces.

They cannot be seen, but they are there. They are microscopic, eight-legged mites that are similar to spiders. Terrible?

Almost all humans have it. They spend their lives on our faces. They eat, breed and eventually die.

Before we run to the bathroom and clean the face, please note that these microscopic creatures do not endanger lives.

There are two types of mites that live on our faces, Demodex folliculorum and Demodex Brevis.

They are arthropods, groups of animals that fall into the category of jointed, legged animals such as crabs and insects. Their closest relatives are spiders and fleas.

Fat

Demodex mites have eight short, fat legs near their heads. Their bodies are elongated, like worms. Under a microscope, they are seen swimming in oil on our faces, and moving very fast.

Demodex mites live in the pores of the skin and hair follicles, while D.brevis prefers to stay in a deeper place in the sebaceous glands.

Microscopic glands that are just below the skin that secrete oil.

In addition to the face, these mites are also found in other areas of our body, including the genital and chest areas.

Scientists have long known that humans carry mites. D. folliculorum mites were first discovered in human earwax in France in 1842.

Mite population on the face

Megan Thoemmes of North California State University and colleagues found that about 14% of humans have mites.

They also found DNA from Demodex on every face they tested.

The population of these mites reaches thousands. In addition, there are at least two mites on each of our lashes.

"Some researchers argue that these mites eat bacteria that are on our skin," Thoemmes said. "Others think they might eat our dead skin cells, also eat oil from our skin."

Breed

Female demodex lay eggs around the skin pores they inhabit. These mites have large size eggs, about three times their body size.

With this size, they can only spawn one egg at a time.

"We've only seen a demodex laying eggs," added Thoemmes.

So far researchers have not been able to recognize this little creature with certainty. But the existence of Demodex can be a reminder that our body is also home to various species.

There is a simple lesson here, that there is an ecosystem (maybe more) in our body.