Tarsonemus Mites Under the Microscope

Tarsonemus Mite Debris

A good source for information on indoor mites is the book by A. M. Hughs, THE MITES OF STORED FOOD, Technical Bulletin No. 9, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London, 1961. This book can be hard to find. A very abbreviated reference but a very useful one is "Pictorial keys for the identification of domestic mites" by M. J. Colloff and F. Th. M. Spieksma in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 1992, Vol. 22, pp. 823-830.

Tarsonemus sp. are becoming increasingly common mites in homes in the United States. They have long been common in homes in Asia. It is known to be associated with asthma sufferers in Asia. Tarsonemus is not detected by the allergen tests for Dermatophagoidies mites.