Talk:Demodex

Some recent observations: demodex have and annus where you would expect one. One specimen had coloratiion of the digestive tract by some unknown substance, and the mouth and annus were clearly visible. The next day I observed a specimen creating a globular amber colored excretia out of it anus. These observations are with a 10X magnification glass. It is apparent that the literature about this organism needs to be corrected, as it asserts that this arthropod has very efficient digestion and needs no annus. Peoples' sensitivity to this topic is understandable, but I do not believe these misconceptions need to be repeated in Wikipedia.

Theravadaz (talk) 09:28, 7 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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Pictures of human infestation??

We need some pictures of these mites living in humans. Since they are so small a good picture would probably consist of an overpopulated eyelash resulting in some inflamation —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.193.163.207 (talk) 09:17, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Life cycle questions needing to be answered

Do males and females typically look alike and have the same lifestyle? How does the male fertilize the female? Where are the eggs stored? How long does it take until they hatch, and then how long does it take until you get adult mites? AxelBoldt 03:39, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Most of it answered now in the article, from the cited Dermatologica article. AxelBoldt 17:15, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Detection

How can a person tell whether they are hosting D. folliculorum, D. brevis, or both? -GTBacchus^(talk) 00:23, 14 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article says you can see them under a microscope on your eyelashes. AxelBoldt 06:37, 11 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some final observations: Demodocosis

The saga of personal affliction ends on a cheerful note. Instead of being diagnosed with a psychosis as some might suggest, I have made interesting observations about the arthropods that were previously infesting my skin.

I had at least 4 distinct populations: The regular one; the small ones that cruise the skin at night (brevis); a scrotal variety with special cappilary feeding tube and fast legs; and a large variety, sometimes more than one mm in length that inhabits my nasal passages.

The first population to go was the scrotal infestation. A local preparation of camphor was sufficient. The nasal population I am resigned too. I may try frequent camphor inhalations.

The general under the skin varieties that produce scabes with insect casts by some hyperplastic process, have been controled by Benzyl Benzoate. I am taking a conservative approach and using it one time in a light general application and will continue to use it locally to suppress outbreaks. I can not believe that open ulcers are characteristic of a normal flora (in this case fauna) and intend to suppress the population down to what could reasonably be called a normal flora.

It seems like we are dealing with an insect that has the capacity to establish a differentiated community (possibly differentiated reproductively as well), and this might involve additional life stages that are unknown, or, it may be a case of sympatric, allopatric or kariotypical speciation, or a combination of these. When I last looked at the subject, the etiology of normal flora was "an unknown". Perhaps the Greeks were right, infestation was a punishment by Zeus for the gift of fire to man by Promethious.

Theravadaz (talk) 08:50, 27 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]