Demodex the face mite on my forehead!

Apr 03, 2019 • 8:56 AM UTC

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Microorganisms

Honomi Ijima

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Hi Microcosmos!
There are many things I’ve wanted to image with Foldscope. One of which is Demodex, which is a face mite species that live on the faces of every one of us humans.
Tonight, I’ve finally found one on my forehead! Yay!

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Demodex from my forehead: 140x + maximum digital zoom, LED magnifier
Ok, ok, mites on our faces. Some might say… EW! But hear me out 🙂
They are part of our personal ecosystem; our human microbiome. And it’s nice to know that we have microscopic pets on our faces everywhere we go. Aren’t they kind of cute? No?

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Demodex from my forehead: 140x, LED magnifier light
Cute or not cute (I think they are cute), you can catch your own mite and see for yourself! And it’s super easy!
All you need to do is stick a piece of clear tape across your forehead for a few hours. The longer you leave the piece of tape the more chance of you catching the Demodex. I left my piece of tape on for 6 hours.
Then you carefully remove the strip of tape, and stick it on top of a blank glass slide.

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Then insert the slide into your Foldscope and scan for your mites!
It took me 40-50 min to scan the entire strip of tape to find one mite which you are seeing below. So it may take some patience.
Have fun!
Honomi