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Know that as you fall asleep tonight tiny eight-legged mites less than a millimeter long have sex on your face.
Described as resembling “big-butted tardigrades,” Demodex are part of the arachnid class, making them cousins to spiders and ticks.
They usually come out at night to feast on dead skin cells on our face before retreating to hair follicles and oil glands to lay their eggs.
Despite their frightening appearance, these mites are harmless and will go undetected. They can even help your skin by removing dead skin cells.
James Weiss, a microscopist at Bournemouth University with a passion for microbial life, captured the new images of Demodex living on his own face.
Demodex is a genus of microscopic mites that live in human hair follicles and sebaceous glands. The tiny creatures are arachnids, cousins of spiders and ticks
He noticed a small black dot on his forehead, which he scraped off with a glass slide before looking at it under the microscope and filming it.
The footage was published on the YouTube channel Journey to the Microcosmos, which regularly posts videos of little-known microscopic species.
“Being told that you have small animals crawling around your face can be a little unsettling,” said host Hank Green.
“But here’s the point — we pretty much have them all.”
“Maybe we can find some space in our hearts for these little mites.
“They’re even cute under the harsh glare of our UV light.”
The images show spherical droplets in the tip of the Demodex body, which are oil droplets and the digested remains of sebum from our skin.
Male and female mites usually mate in a follicle opening before laying eggs in hair follicles and oil glands.
In addition, they are able to fuel nighttime mating sessions using the melatonin secreted by human skin at dusk.
Males have a penis that projects upwards from the front of their body – meaning they must position themselves below the female during mating and copulation while both cling to the human hair.
The images show spherical droplets in the tip of the Demodex body, which are oil droplets and the digested remains of sebum from our skin
Creepy or cute? The microscopic creepy crawlies are seen under the glare of ultraviolet light
Larvae hatch in three to four days and mature in seven days, but their lifespan is usually only about two weeks.
Demodex is about 0.01 inch (0.3 mm) long, which is too small to see with the naked eye, and is usually passed on through close contact with family members.
About 65 species of Demodex are known, but only two live on humans – Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis.
D. folliculorum is found in hair follicles, while D. brevis lives in sebaceous glands connected to hair follicles.
Scientists estimate that between 23 and 100 percent of healthy adults have Demodex, although we wouldn’t know until they cause skin problems.
Some researchers assumed that these tiny mites do not have an anus and therefore have to accumulate all their feces throughout their lives before releasing it when they die, causing skin inflammation.
However, a study published last year by experts at the University of Reading found that they do have anuses after all thus are ‘wrongly to blame’ for many skin conditions.
This Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) shows one of the species living on humans: Demodex folliculorum
D. folliculorum mites are carried on the face, eyelashes and even nipples by almost every human being, moving between follicles in search of a mate. Picture of the Demodex folliculorum mite on the skin under the microscope
Still, D. folliculorum can cause demodicosis, an itchy, irritating condition that results from a susceptibility to and overcrowding of the species. Another Demodex species called D. canis lives on dogs rather than humans, but it also causes Demodicosis, which leads to patches of fur loss and red inflamed skin. The University of Reading study also said Demodex are becoming simplified organisms and could soon “become one with humans.” Inbreeding and isolation means they’ve shed genes and cells and are moving closer to a permanent existence with us, it said.