Mites belong to a class of tiny animals in the phylum Arachnida, subclass Acarina, and the body size is generally around 0.5 mm, some as small as 0.1 mm, and most species are less than 1 mm. Mites and spiders both belong to the Arachnida class. Adult mites have 4 pairs of legs, a pair of tentacles, no wings and antennae, and their body structure is different from that of insects. The insect body is divided into jaw body and body. The jaw body is composed of mouthparts and jaw base, and the body is divided into podosome and terminal body. There are many hairs on the body and feet of mites, and some of them are very long. There is a mouthpart at the front end and a variety of food habits, such as dandruff.

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There are more than 50,000 species of mites found in the world, second only to insects. Many types are related to medicine. It is now found that mites are closely related to human health. For example, mites such as dermatophytes, chiggers, scabies, Demodex, mealybugs, house dust mites, and cattail mites can bite people and suck blood, infringe on the skin, and cause "rosacea" or demodicosis. , allergies, urinary tract mites, pulmonary mites, intestinal mites and scabies, seriously endangering human health.

1. Morphological characteristics

The adult scabies mite has a nearly round or oval body, a raised back, and is milky white or light yellow. The size of female mites is 0.3~0.5

×0.25～0.4mm; male mites are 0.2～0.3×0.15～0.2mm. The jaws are short and located at the front end. The chelicerae are like pincers with small teeth at the tips, suitable for eating the cuticle tissue of the host's skin. The pedipalps are divided into three sections. No eyes and valves. There are horizontal wavy stripes and rows of scaly skin spines on the back of the body, and there are several pairs of rod-shaped bristles and long bristles on the back half of the body. The ventral surface is smooth, with only a few setae and 4 pairs of legs. The legs are short and thick, divided into 5 segments, and are conical in shape. The distance between the front two pairs of feet and the rear two pairs of feet is relatively large, and there are horny protrusions at the base of the feet. The ends of the front two pairs of legs of both male and female mites have claw pads with long handles, called ambulacra, which are sensitive parts; the ends of the rear two pairs of legs are different in males and females. The females have long setae, while the males have long bristles. The fourth pair of feet has suction pads at the end. The egg-laying hole of the female mite is located in the center in front of the two pairs of rear legs, in the shape of a transverse slit. The external genitalia of the male mite is located slightly behind the fourth pair of legs. The anus of both species is located in the middle of the rear edge of the body.

​2. Inspection method

​1. Self-diagnosis method

Mites are acquired through contact and cross-infection. When mites are first infected, they live in places that are easy to contact, where the temperature and humidity are more suitable for their growth and reproduction, and where sebaceous glands are relatively abundant, such as the nose, forehead, and face. When the infection first reaches the face, a few people will feel a slight itching sensation in their nose and face when they sweat or when sleeping at night. After a period of time, blackheads (which are secretions secreted by mites) will appear.Clogged pores caused by drying and hardening), as the pores begin to slowly become thicker, the skin begins to change from neutral to mixed, and then to oily. At this time, if it is not treated promptly and effectively, it will cause skin inflammation. This is what we Said "pimples, acne, rosacea".

​2. Microscopic detection method

It is to take a little oil secretion from the nose or an oily part and observe it under a microscope. Microscopic observation is intuitive and scientific, but it also has certain limitations. The mites may not be visible in a single test, and the test must be repeated multiple times.

Mites are parasites, not bacteria, so when using a microscope, the operator is required to use an objective lens of 10x and an eyepiece of 10x. High-power lenses are not required. For drops, just use ordinary vegetable oil or peanut oil.

3. Living habits

1. Parasitic site: Scabies mites often parasitize in soft and thin areas of the skin.

2. Activity and Tunnel Digging Scabies mites parasitize deep in the cuticle of the host's epidermis, feed on cuticle tissue and lymph fluid, and dig with their chelicerae and pretarsal claws, gradually forming a winding tunnel parallel to the skin. The length of the tunnel can reach 10~15mm. The tunnel dug by the female mite is the longest, with small longitudinal passages leading to the epidermis at regular intervals. Male mites and metanymphs can also dig independently, but for very short periods of time. Pronymphs and larvae cannot dig tunnels and only live in tunnels dug by female mites. Female mites can dig 0.5 to 5mm per day and generally do not penetrate deep into the cuticle.

Female mites are most active after mating and fertilization, and can crawl 2.5cm per minute. This is also the period when they are most susceptible to infecting new hosts.

3. Effect of temperature and humidity. The activity, lifespan and infection ability of female adults after leaving the host are related to the temperature and relative humidity of the environment. The lifespan is longer when the temperature is lower and the humidity is higher, while high temperature and low humidity are detrimental to its survival. The optimum temperature for female mites to spread is 15 to 31°C, and the effective diffusion time is 1 to 6.95 days. Within this time limit, the mites can move normally and have the ability to infect.