Demodex

Demodex or more properly Demodex Folliculorum is a tiny parasite that mainly lives on and around human eyelashes. It is a "face mite" - there are others by the way. They belong to the arthropod genus and an adult demodex measures between 0.3mm and 0.4mm. They can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. Some biologists believe that in small numbers the creature serves a useful purpose in maintaining sebaceous glands and hair follicles but a large infestation may result in itchiness and other mild allergic reactions around the eyes. Scientific guesswork suggests that half of the adult population of the world is permanently hosting these invisible mites and as we grow older infestation rates increase. They have very likely been our secret companions since we were cave people. There are of course males and females. They mate at the entrance to hair follicles and the resulting young are hatched within three or four days to begin their work, perhaps hoping that they will also get to mate before the end of their month long lives. I wonder what they say to each other as they are going about their business, mostly while we are sleeping...