The flour mite, ''Acarus siro'', a pest of stored

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

s and animal feedstuffs, is one of many species of grain and flour mites. An older name for the species is ''Tyroglyphus farinae''. The flour mite, which is pale greyish white in colour with pink legs, is the most common species of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

in foodstuffs. The males are from long and the female is from long. The flour mites are found in grain and may become exceedingly abundant in poorly stored material. The female produces large clutches of eggs and the life cycle takes just over two weeks. The cast skins and dead bodies can form a fluffy brown material that accumulates under sacks on the warehouse floor. After a while, predatory mites tend to move in, and these keep the flour mites under control. Flour mites that contaminate grains, flour and animal feedstuffs, create

allergen An allergen is an otherwise harmless substance that triggers an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals by stimulating an immune response. In technical terms, an allergen is an antigen that is capable of stimulating a type-I hypersensitivi ...

s in the dust produced, and also transfer

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

ic microorganisms. Foodstuffs acquire a sickly sweet smell and an unpalatable taste. When fed infested feeds, animals show reduced feed intake, diarrhea, inflammation of the small intestine, and impaired growth. Pigs have their live-weight gain, feed-to-gain ratio, and nitrogen retention markedly reduced by infested feeds. Flour mites are intentionally inoculated into

Mimolette Mimolette () is a cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France. In France it is also known as ''Boule de Lille'' after its city of origin, or ''vieux Hollande'' because it was originally inspired by the Dutch Edam cheese. Descr ...

cheese to improve the flavor. When used for this purpose, they may be referred to as " cheese mites". The mites sometimes bite humans, which can cause an allergic reaction known as Baker's itch. File:9-Acarus siro male ventr DIC40 BMOC 01-0903-003.jpg, ''A. siro'' male, adult, ventral view File:7-Acarus siro female ventr BF20 BMOC 01-0903-003.jpg, ''A. siro'' female, adult, ventral view File:2-Acarus siro HDN vent BF40 BMOC 86-0401-003.jpg, ''A. siro'' phoretic deutonymph, ventral view.

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Wikihow
How to Get Rid of and Prevent Flour Mites (domestic infestations) {{Authority control Acaridae Agricultural pest mites Arachnids described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

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