A scientist scraped a black dot on his forehead and filmed it under a microscope, revealing dozens of crawling face mites
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Face mites are tiny creatures that live on just about every human's face. They live, reproduce, and die in skin pores. But they're pretty harmless.
A scientist scraped a black dot on his forehead and put it under a microscope.
He saw dozens of tiny face mites, aka Demodex mites, crawling around on the plate.
Demodex are harmless and like to live on human faces as well as on all other mammals.
They sound like something from a horror film, but these mysterious, microscopic creatures are very real.
They live their entire lives on your body and eventually die and decompose all within the pores of your face. Sound like a fun time?
Here's a closer look at what these mites look like.
"They're not just on us; they're on all mammals. So they evolved initially on early mammals and they've speciated as mammals have speciated," Trautwein told Insider.
The fascinating footage and images of these mites featured in the YouTube video came from James Weiss' own face.
After seeing a tiny black dot on his forehead, Weiss scraped the spot with a microscope slide and took a look.
They are mostly found on faces, especially Demodex folliculorum, but can also be found in other greasy parts of our bodies, Trautwein said, like ear canals, noses, and pubic areas.
Demodex mostly stay in your pores except at night when they emerge to find other Demodex to mate with.
"They crawl around on your face, having a great time visiting their friends in other hair follicles," Robinson said.
The thought of hundreds of mites crawling around your face at night might give you the creeps, but for the most part, these tiny animals cause no harm to humans and can actually help balance the skin microbiome.
"The good thing about the Demodex mite is that he's our friend," Robinson said. "In most cases, he's just chewing up dead skin and getting rid of it, and also getting rid of that excess oil we don't need."
"There is a harmony in the skin, good types of bacteria and microorganisms, and if you disturb that harmony then you can sometimes create other problems," Robinson said. "So I wouldn't advocate for getting rid of something unless it is causing other issues."
For Trautwein, these tiny creatures tell an important story about the history of humanity and our connection to all other animals.
"I think a major misconception people have is that humans are somehow not part of the natural order," Trautwein said. "We think we are distinct and we can separate ourselves from nature and other animals, but that isn't the case."
Our face mites are a testament to that.
"We're just out here like the rats and the dogs; we all have these mites," she said. "We're all just part of this ancient mammalian heritage."
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