House dust mite
The house dust mite is so tiny that you need a microscope to see it. It is a little eight-legged cousin of spiders. Millions of them live in our beds, pillows and carpets without us ever noticing.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is House dust mite compared to YOU?
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How fast is it?
Fun facts
A female is about a third of a millimetre long, smaller than a grain of salt.
It takes about a month to grow from an egg to a grown-up mite.
A female lives about 70 days and lays about 120 eggs.
It is the most common mite in homes in Europe.
Most asked questions about House dust mite
?Can you see dust mites?
No. They are too small to see without a microscope.
?Do dust mites bite?
No. They do not bite, but they can cause allergies in some people.
?Where do dust mites live?
In mattresses, pillows, carpets and other soft things in our homes.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus
- Named by
- Trouessart, 1897
- Group
- Scorpions, ticks and friends
- Family
- Pyroglyphidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Sarcoptiformes > Pyroglyphidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- European house dust mite
Where the facts come from
- Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Employee of US Government. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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