Sarcoptic mange or scabies mite

Description: a pearly white, plump, oval, eyeless mite with rudimentary legs; females up to 1/60 inch long; patches of microscopic, stout, blunt spines occur on the mite’s body and several long, hairlike setae project from the body and legs.

Domestic animals affected: Different varieties or subspecies affect different kinds of animals: cattle (not in Kansas), swine, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, humans; (not cats, although they may be parasitized by similar species).

Damage caused: Damage varies in severity among hosts; it is extremely debilitating to dogs and goats; among farm animals it is now most common in swine where it is severe enough to reduce efficiency and rate of gain. The skin condition caused by sarcoptic mites is a disease.

Development: gradual metamorphosis: egg, 6-legged protonymph, 8- legged deutonymph, adult.

Generational time: 10 to 14 days.

Oviposition site: within tunnels in the upper layer of skin made by the feeding activity of the adult female.

Nymphal habitat, feeding: nymphs feed and develop within the tunnel made by the female; when mature, they emerge to the surface of the skin.

Adult habitat, feeding: Newly matured adults mate on the skin surface; the females then make their own burrows, feeding on skin cells as they go; males mostly remain on the surface and do not live as long as females do.

Method of dispersal or infestation: host-to-host contact, exposure to bedding, grooming tools, or transportation that has been exposed to infested hosts of the same species; additional dispersal is by host mobility and transportation of infested hosts.

Seasonality: Sarcoptic mange mites may live on animals at any time of year, but on most hosts the greatest reproduction rate and most damaging lesions occur during the cooler months.

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