From the pages of Agricultural Research magazine Mighty Mites Ubiquitous, Inconspicuous, Harmful, Helpful Mites have successfully colonized nearly every known habitat on Earth. Mites are also incredibly diverse, second only to insects in the number of species known to live on Earth. Research on mites, as on many other arthropods, is hampered by their minute size.
Most species are too small to be seen without a microscope.
Some are only about as large as a good-sized bacterium. Indeed, the human follicle mite is so small it can raise an entire mite family on one human hair follicle. And honey bee tracheal mites live and breed within a bee's tiny respiratory tubes. But some mites are easily seen. And although water mites are rarely more than a few millimeters long, their bright colors and rapid movement often bring them to our attention.