A genus of microscopic mites that live in hair follicles and oil glands of human and animal skin.
From Greek dēmo (skin, fat) + dēx (wood-worm, small creature). The genus was named by scientists in the 1800s using classical Greek elements.
Every human adult has demodex mites living on them, especially on the face around hair follicles—they're so universal that scientists study them to understand human skin ecology, and they can cause problems like rosacea when populations boom.
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