Some mites hitch a ride on other arthropods. The Madagascan hissing cockroach common to zoos, classrooms and laboratories has a visible mite that exists solely on these hosts, causing them no harm. Most of us, especially if you are an adult, carry follicle mites in our facial pores. Mites make some of us sneeze. About 5 percent of the population have allergies to dust mite feces and their cast skins.
Mites even invade the internal organs of humans, other vertebrates and invertebrates.
For bee mites there is double the dispersal potential via the host and then humans who move bees on trucks, trailers, boats, airplanes and even in the pocket. Eva Crane's overview links the advent of air travel with the dispersal of mites globally. Another feature that provides many mites with an advantage in life is their reproductive strategy. Many mite species have a system where the female controls which eggs are fertilized, much like honey bees. Acarapis woodi also uses a short-cut for development.