The first permanent structures for houses date back to 6,000 to 5,000 B.C., but it was not until the late 1600s that scientist became interested in the dust of houses. Voorhorst et al . The female measure approximately 420 microns in length and 320 microns in width. The male is approximately 420 microns long and 245 microns wide. A pair of suckers on the ventral posterior idiosoma of the male is used to grasp the female during copulation.
Mated females live about two months.
A male may attach itself to a tritonymph female and mate when she reaches the adult stage. There is a general agreement that house dust mites in the home feed on shed skin of man. The average individual sheds 0.5 to 1.0 gram of skin daily. Spieksma et al . Because of the medical implications, house dust and the fauna of mites associated with house dust have been tested for the source of the house dust allergen.