8 Types of Mites You Need To Know - Mite Infestation

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8 Types of Mites You Need To Know

types of mites

Mites are hard to see because they can be as little as 1 mm long. Some are harmless but some feed on fungi, plants, animals, and humans. There are seemingly, countless types of mites, here are the most common.

Mites are among the most diverse groups of arachnids, with about 45,000 mite species. But, while some are uncommon, you can easily find some types of mites in and around the home. 

 

What are Mites?

Mites are tiny arthropods (like spiders and ticks). Most are hard to spot because they are small (1mm or less). Some mites are parasitic. They feed on plants, insects, animals, and humans. Parasitic mites suck blood, bite, and feed on dead skin, causing skin irritation, itching, and respiratory problems. 

Where Do Mites Live? 

You can find mites almost anywhere. They live in fresh and saltwater, in the soil, on leaves, on animals and human skin, and in the home. 

Parasitic mites most times live in the home of their host. This includes those who feed on insects and animals and infest human skin. These types of mites can’t survive for long without their host.

8 Common Types of Mites 

1. Clover Mites

Clover mites are one of the most common mites. They grow between 0.75 to 0.85mm long. They are often reddish-brown, but the eggs have a light red hue. These types of mites have a pair of legs that point forward and can likely be mistaken for antennas.  

Clover mites feed on the sap of a variety of plant leaves. The sign of their infestation is the white marks they leave on the leaves. 

This type of mite species moves into houses when seasons change or they have lost their food source. Although they don’t bite, they can be a nuisance. When crushed, clover mites leave red stains on the floor. 

2. Spider Mites

They named this type of mite species after spiders because of the silk web they produce. They wrap the webs around themselves to protect them from the wind. Spider mites invade gardens and rarely move indoors. Even during winter, they rather remain inactive under the ground. 

Spider mites feed on the sap of the leaves of cucumbers, strawberries, zucchini, and fruit trees. You can identify the leaves they infest by the silk webs around them. 

They feed and lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves. But you can mostly see evidence of their infestation on the upper side. Sometimes, severe mite attacks can even destroy the plant. 

3. Scabies Mites

Scabies mites, also known as human itch mites, are among the most common type of mites affecting humans. These types of mites burrow into the skin and make tunnels where they lay eggs. Since they go under the skin, they irritate, and the spot can be extremely itchy. 

Scabies mite causes scabies, which is contagious. It can pass from person to person through physical contact. But, since this type of mites travel slowly, transmission most times occurs during prolonged contact with the infected person. 

Scabies can look like other skin reactions. What sets it apart is the tunnel-like burrows in the skin. They’re more likely to invade skin folds of the wrist, elbow, or knee, around the waistline, or navel. 

Learn more about the Demodex mite here!

4. House Dust Mites

Dust mites are prevalent in the house. They are called dust mites because they rise in the air with dust thus, are airborne. These types of mites feed on dead skin cells and absorb water from the air. 

Though they feed on human skin cells, they don’t live on humans. Dust mites live in mattresses and upholstery. They commonly cause allergic reactions and can even trigger asthma attacks. 

Discover if you have dust mires here.

5. Chigger Mites

Chigger mites (harvest mites) live in the soil, forest, and grasslands. The adult chigger mite doesn’t infest humans, but the larvae do. Since they are too small to search for food, they feed on human skin. 

The larvae can sense carbon dioxide exhaled by humans and animals. They attach to the skin of their host and inject saliva into the skin and feed on the skin cells. After feeding, they fall off and become nymphs. 

Chigger mites don’t carry diseases but cause skin irritation, swelling, severe itching, and rash. People who go to the park, golf course, hikers, and campers can get infested by Chigger mites. 

Learn how to get rid of chiggers in your yard with this article.

6. Bird Mites

Bird mites live on poultry and wild birds. They feed on their blood and need bird blood to complete their cycle. These types of mites are often white or gray, but after feeding, they have a reddish hue. 

Typically, bird mites can’t live on humans. But when their bird host dies or leaves the nest, they move into the home, searching for a new host. These types of mites commonly infest houses near poultry or a bird’s nest. 

Bird mites bite humans and feed on human blood. However, without bird blood, they cannot complete their cycle. Hence, they eventually die if they can’t find a bird host. 

7. Rodent Mites

These types of mites live on rodents, so they live in rodent-infested homes. Rodent mites feed on the blood of rodents. They can’t live on humans and rarely bite people. Only three types of rodent mites bite — house mouse mites, spiny rat mites, and tropical rat mites. 

When separated from their host, they feed on humans. Their bites can cause skin irritation and itching. Rodent mites can survive for weeks without a host, but eventually, they will die or leave. 

8. Straw Itch Mites 

Straw itch mites feed on tiny insects, especially stored-grain insects. They live in hay, grasses, grains, leaves, seeds, and straws. These types of mites can’t survive indoors and also don’t live on humans. 

Straw itch mites rarely bite humans unless you come in contact with straw, hay, grass, or grains. They try to feed on humans and leave red marks that are incredibly itchy. Their bites can cause rash, intense itching, headache, fever, nausea, and joint pain. 

Conclusion On A Few Different Types of Mites

Mites are tiny arthropods. There are at least 45,000 mites species in the world. These mites feed on fungi, plants, insects, animals, and humans. Some species, like the bird mite, scabies mite, dust mite, clover mite, rodent mite, and chigger mite, are the most common. Some bite and feed on human skin, and their bites can cause skin irritation and intense itching.

The type of mite species that causes most of the problems is *Sarcoptes scabiei*, the scabies mite. This mite feeds on the human skin, causing intense itching, especially in infants and young children. The scabies mite can be found anywhere on the body but mainly on the hands, feet, and legs. The scabies mite is transmitted by direct contact with another person or through close contact. It is not airborne. The symptoms of scabies are itchy red skin lesions and papules (tiny bumps).

Miteinfestaion.com blog was started to help others deal with the problems of Mites, bed bugs, fleas, ticks and other small, often unseen critters that give us problems. We hope these articles are a help to you as you deal with these types of issues. Any product or service we provide on these pages have been proven to work. We are solely reader supported so we may receive a small percentage as an affiliate of Amazon and other companies.

13 Comments

  2. […] Spider mites, known biologically as Tetranychus urticae, are eight-legged insects that consume plants. They are one of the most common plant pests. Their size is usually smaller than a pin head, making them hard to identify. They are similar to ticks and sometimes considered arachnids, that is, in the spider family, rather than insects because they have eight legs. There are different types of spider mites, each occurring in various colors ranging from red, green, brown, or yellow. Some examples include red spider mite, two-spotted spider mite, and many more. If you want to learn more about other mites here are eight common types of mites. […]

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