The house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus is about half the size of a dot or period on a newspaper. The mite has no eyes, no organised breathing system, cannot drink and lives for approximately 3-4 months. Twenty droppings a day may be produced by the mite, which means approximately 2000 during its lifetime. The HDM can get nourishment from its own droppings and may eat them up to three times over. The females can lay from 60-100 eggs depending upon living conditions, which ideally, are warm dark and damp for breeding mites. Most modern conventional beds provide perfect breeding conditions!
The mite will not bite. It is a scavenger with a preference for discarded old mouldy human skin scales. As a scavenger, however, it will eat pollen grains, insect scales, house dust, plant fibres and old bits of dead mites. The mite is a necessary cleaner in nature. We must learn to understand and respect the house dust mite. This simple creature has been on earth for about 23 million years. It has lived with man for about 10,000 years.
The most important thing to know about the mite is that it consists of up to 80% water. A tiny bag of water! Without water it will not thrive!
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