Table of Contents
What do dust mites eat?
Dust mites are similar to insects like spider and ticks. They contain eight legs, and their size is this much small that it is not visible to the naked eyes. They can only be seen through a microscope, and their body length ranges between 0.2 to 0.4 mm only. Despite their small size, its female can lay 100 of eggs within its short lifespan of 2-3 months. They spend whole of their life in eating, reproducing and creating waste. These creatures do not have to struggle hard to get their food. The reason is, they consume cells of the dead skin that are available in abundance around any living beings. They need only two types of things to survive. One is the availability of dead skin, and other is the hot and humid atmosphere. For this reason, they find their suitable atmosphere almost in every other place, and they reproduce in an exponential way.
It sounds weird, but dust mites’ primary source of food is scales or dander produced from the skin of living beings. These scales are present in dust, and dust mites consume it. It is a fact that skin of humans and pets renew itself regularly. It explains why all humans and pets discard small flakes of their skin regularly. The highest number of skin flakes can only be found in the area where these living beings are present. Furthermore, such areas also contain more humidity because of respiration of humans. This thing goes for dust mites as they eat humans’ shredded skin flakes and absorb water vapors exhaled by them. The reason of the presence of dust mites in areas like sofa, mattresses, and carpet is also because humans spend most of their time at such places.
Do dust mites bite humans? The amazing truth!
It is the fact that dust mites consume dead skin, hairs and dandruff abandon by human bodies. They only consume discarded scales and don’t make wounds inside human bodies. However, still, there are many people out there who complain about dust mites’ bite as they have formed irritating red-colored bumps on their skin. What is the reason behind such wounds when dust mites only eat the dead skin? Here we will discuss the concern.
Many people assume the sign of wounds or bitten sign appears on the skin as dust mite bites. However, it is not. Rather, it is the allergic reaction of human skin in the response of these insects. Dust mites only create a problem for humans by spreading allergens all around. The feces of dust mites contain proteins on them, and the irritating red skin is the reaction to these proteins. Dust mites usually spread different allergens which when react with skin produces inflammation and reactions that appear similar to any insect bites. That is why many people confuse between dust mite and other insects’ bites.
Allergy is the dangerous and irritating harm dust mites do to humans. Otherwise, these tiny creatures do not produce any other problems for living beings. However, these allergies are not only limited to skin, but they can create allergies in eyes, nose, breathing passage and sinuses as well. Mostly, kids and elderly people react more to allergens produced by these mites. This reaction might result in asthma, skin rash, wheezing, stuffy, runny nose, and itchy eyes.
As dust mites are present almost in every other place where humans spend heir time, it becomes tough to get rid of them and allergies caused by them. However, to stay healthy and spend peaceful time in your home, it is imperative to get rid of these tiny creatures.
How to get rid of dust mite bites and their droppings?
As it has been mentioned above, that dust mites do not bite humans. All they do is spreading waste materials that contain allergens. Waste produced by dust mite is huge in quantity. The idea of waste generated by them can be taken by the fact that single dust mite can produce 20 droppings per day and each dropping contain allergens to its fullest. It can result in a serious number of allergens present around, and they should be eliminated as early as possible. Here are few tips and tricks that will help you to remove dust mites from your home without using any chemicals or treatments.
- Try to turn over your mattress and pillows after a regular interval. Keeping them in the same position for a longer period can make them a permanent housing site for dust mites.
- Try to keep your home at low temperature and properly ventilated. As dust mites love warm and humid places and they grow in such areas very well. Therefore, to stop their growth and to kill them by dehydration, it is necessary to keep the temperature of your home moderate and properly ventilated.
- You need to keep your stuff toys clean and wash them at regular intervals. Other favorite places of dust mites are stuff toys. Therefore, it is necessary to clean them properly to remove dust mites and their wastes.
- Try to keep your house clean and tidy. As dirt and dust are the most favorite place for dust mites. They flourish well in the dusty area. The reason is dust contains an abundant amount of human dead cells and skin flakes. Therefore, to get rid of dust mites and their droppings, make a habit of cleaning your home at regular intervals.
- Make a habit of doing dusting regularly. It is the most important step to perform to get rid of dust mites. Dusting with dry clothes can not serve the purpose adequately. Therefore, to stay protected from mites allergies proper dusting with wet clothes is necessary. In this way, all human skin residue and dust will be removed leaving behind no reason for dust mites to stay in your area.
- Furthermore, try to cover your mattress and pillow covers with the mites blocking covers. These clothes are made up of texture that assists in protecting you from getting allergies from mites.
Besides these natural home remedies against dust mites, there are many chemicals products available in the market that will also help a lot in this regard. Few popular products are:
1. Raycop anti-allergy bed Vac.
It is a very useful device that has a potential of killing millions of dust mites present inside your bed. Raycop removes not only these insects, but also their feces that can create allergies. All these waste material get collected in its cartridge filter. It can be used in bed, mattresses, carpets and furniture as well.
2. Dust mite controller
It is the unique and compelling product that by producing ultrasonic sounds interrupts the growth and reproductive process of dust mites. It results in their decreased population and expiration of already present mites.
What is the difference between a dust mite and bed bug?
Typically, dust mites and bed bugs are mistaken for each other because of the presence of both insects inside home and bedding material. Many people confuse bites of bed bugs with the allergic reactions produced by dust mites. However, there are clear differences between both insects, and few of them are mentioned below:
- Dust mites are the microscopic spider that contains eight legs, and their whitish color is hardly visible through naked eyes. On the other hand, bed bugs include flat bodies with six legs. No doubt, they are also small, but their reddish brown color is easily visible through naked eyes.
- The habitat of both insects differs in the way that dust mites can be found in any area of indoor environment that contain enough moisture level. On the other hand, dust mites can be found mostly in bed cervices, curtains, and nightstands.
- Dust mites Besides causing skin allergies; also produce breathing passage, eyes and nose allergies. On the other hand, bed bugs do not produce any allergy; rather they create red-colored scars by biting on the skin.
- Diet of dust mites includes dead skin and dandruff of humans and pets. On the other hand, the diet of bed bugs consists of the blood of warm-blooded mammals.