• perishthethought@lemm.ee
    ·
    2 months ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex

    My fave parts (edited for brevity):

    The adult mites are 0.3–0.4 mm (3⁄256–1⁄64 in) long. Each has a semitransparent, elongated body that consists of two fused parts. Eight short, segmented legs are attached to the first body segment. The body is covered with scales for anchoring itself in the hair follicle, and the mite has pin-like mouthparts for eating skin cells and oils that accumulate in the hair follicles.

    ... and ...

    The mites are transferred between hosts through contact with hair, eyebrows, and the sebaceous glands of the face.

    Ohhh good.

    • TankieTanuki [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      3⁄256

      Who uses inches at this scale? I mean, really, Wikipedia.

      "Hand me my 1/256th inch ruler." --nobody

  • NaevaTheRat [she/her]@vegantheoryclub.org
    ·
    2 months ago

    Personally I find it pretty neat that as megafauna we are host to entire little ecosystems. It's a calming thought to imagine yourself like some large tree, home to little families of various creatures, bacterial and fungal colonies growing on you. We are thoroughly integrated into the ecosystems in which we live.

    They're not harmful, they're just living their mitey little life.

    • Chadus_Maximus@lemm.ee
      ·
      2 months ago

      I, personally, am wholly against most of my DNA existing solely it can replicate itself. So what if getting rid of it is more effort than keeping it? I want it gone from my body. Goddamn freeloaders...

    • TankieTanuki [he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Pretty much everything looks horrifying on a scanning electron micrograph.