Mite

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Mite

Mites, along with tick

Tick

Tick is the common name for the small arachnids in superfamily Ixodoidea that, along with other mites, constitute the Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and occasionally reptiles and amphibians....
s, belong to the subclass Acarina

Acarina

Acarina or Acari are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and its fossil history goes back to the at least the early Devonian era; possibly even the Ordovician....
(also known as Acari) and the class Arachnid

Arachnid

Arachnids are a class of Arthropod invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, but some exceptions are of some species having the first pair legs convert to sensory function and harvest mite larvae have only 3 pairs of legs....
a. Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal lacking a vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal species ? all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum vertebrate ....
groups. They have exploited an incredible array of habitat

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or Natural_environment area that is inhabited by a particular animal or plant species. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population....
s, and because of their small size (most are microscopic

Microorganism

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Yellow Mite (tydeidae) Lorryia Formosa 2 Edit

Mites, along with tick

Tick

Acarina

Arachnid

Invertebrate

Habitat (ecology)

Microorganism

A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic . The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design....
) most go totally unnoticed. Many live freely in the soil or water, but there are also a large number of species that live as parasites on plants, animals, and some that feed on mold.

Some of the plant pests include the so called spider mite

Spider mite

Spider mites are members of the Acari family Tetranychidae, which includes about 1600 species. They generally live on the under sides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and they can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells to feed....
s (family Tetranychidae), thread-footed mites (family Tarsonemidae

Tarsonemidae

Tarsonemidae is a family of mites, also called thread-footed mites or white mites.Only a limited number of tarsonemid genera are known to feed on Vascular plant while most species in this family feed on the thin-walled mycelia of fungi or possibly algal bodies....
), and the gall mites (family Eriophyidae). Among the species that attack animals are members of the Sarcoptic Mange

Mange

Mange is a parasite infestation of the skin of animals. Common symptoms include hair loss, itching and inflammation, all of which are caused by microscopic mites....
mites (family Sarcoptidae), which burrow under the skin. Demodex mite

Demodex mite

Demodex is a genus of tiny Parasite mites that live in or near hair follicles of mammals. About 65 species of Demodex mites are known; they are among the smallest of arthropods....
s (family Demodicidae) are parasites that live in or near the hair follicle

Hair follicle

A hair follicle is part of the skin that grows hair by packing old Cell s together. Attached to the follicle is a sebaceous gland, a tiny sebum-producing gland found everywhere except on the hands, lips and soles of the feet....
s of mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s, including humans. Perhaps the best-known mite, though, is the house dust mite

House dust mite

The house dust mite , is a cosmopolitan distribution guest in human habitation. Dust mites feed on organic detritus such as flakes of shed human skin and flourish in the stable environment of dwellings....
(family Pyroglyphidae).

Insects may also have parasitic mites. Examples are Varroa destructor
Varroa destructor

Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroatosis....
which attaches to the body of the honeybee, and Acarapis woodi
Acarapis woodi

Acarapis woodi is a mite that is an internal parasite of honey bees. Tracheal mites are related to spiders and have eight legs. Acarapis woodi live and reproduce in the tracheal tubes of the bees....
(family Tarsonemidae

Tarsonemidae

Invertebrate trachea

Many terrestrial animal arthropods have evolved a closed respiratory system composed of spiracles, tracheae, and tracheoles to transport metabolism gasses to and from tissue....
e of honey bees. There are hundreds of species of mites associated with other bee species, and most are poorly described and understood. Some are thought to be parasites, while others beneficial symbionts

Symbiosis

The term symbiosis commonly describes close and often long-term interactions between different biological species. The term was first used in 1879 by the Germany mycology Heinrich Anton de Bary, who defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms"....
.

There are over 45,000 described species of mites. Scientists believe that we have only found 5% of the total diversity of mites. Mites are believed to have existed for around 400 million years.

The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.

The tropical species Archegozetes longisetosus is one of the strongest animals in the world, relative to its mass (100 µg): It lifts up to 1182 times its own weight, over five times more than would be expected of such a minute animal (Heethoff & Koerner 2007).

Systematics

In the usual taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
, the ticks form one of several superfamilies in the taxon

Taxon

A taxon or taxonomic unit is a name designating an organism or a group of organisms. In biological nomenclature according to Carl Linnaeus, a taxon is assigned a taxonomic rank and can be placed at a particular level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships....
comprising the mites. For the systematics of mites, see Acarina

Acarina

Allergy

Mites cause several forms of allergic diseases, including hay fever

Hay Fever

Hay Fever is a comic play written by No?l Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Best described as a cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, the play is set in an English country house in the 1920s, and deals with the four eccentric members of the Bliss family and their outlandish b...
, asthma

Asthma

Asthma is a common chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in which the Lung constrict, become inflammation, and are lined with excessive amounts of thickened mucus, often in response to one or more triggers....
and eczema

Eczema

Eczema is a form of dermatitis, or inflammation of the epidermis. The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions....
and also aggravates atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is an inflammation, chronically relapsing, non-contagious and pruritis skin disease. It has been given names like "prurigo Besnier," "neurodermitis," "endogenous eczema," "flexural eczema," "infantile eczema," and "prurigo diathsique"....
. Mites are usually found in warm and humid locations, including beds. It is thought that inhalation of mites during sleep exposes the human body to some antigen

Antigen

An antigen is a substance that prompts the generation of antibodies and can cause an immune response. The word originated from the notion that they can stimulate antibody generation....
s which eventually induce hypersensitivity reaction. Dust mite allergens are thought to be among the heaviest dust allergens.

Like most of the other types of allergy, treatment of mite allergy starts with avoidance. There is a strong body of evidence showing that avoidance should be helpful in patients with atopic dermatitis triggered by exposure to mites. Regular washing of mattresses and blankets with hot water can help in this regard. Antihistamine

Antihistamine

An H1 antagonist is a histamine antagonist of the histamine H1 receptor that serves to reduce or eliminate effects mediated by histamine, an endogenous chemical mediator released during allergy....
s are also useful; Cetirizine

Cetirizine

Cetirizine hydrochloride , an antihistamine, is a major metabolite of hydroxyzine, and a racemic histamine H1 receptor inverse agonist used in the treatment of allergies, hay fever, angioedema, and urticaria....
, for example, is shown to reduce allergic symptoms of patients.

External links

hosted by the butt
chapter in United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an List of United States federal agencies of the federal government of the United States charged to Regulation of chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land....
and University of Florida
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida?s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible....
National Public Health Pesticide Applicator Training Manual
on the UF/IFAS Featured Creatures Web site