House dust mites - From dinosaurs to humans

This all happened about 80 million years ago. The tiny mite scavenger has survived the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and climate changes by adapting to live with birds, and warm-blooded mammals on a global scale. Its survival is the result of its biological functions and an extraordinary digestive system that can take place in its chambered gut or in its droppings which the mite considers as recycled nourishment.[3]

The scavenging house dust mite (HDM) lives with us today in much the same way as mites lived in the nest sites of the dinosaurs. People that are sensitized or allergic to the mite have heightened immune systems that can sense the irritation of this mite’s ancient ‘tell-tale’ mange-like enzyme and react against its presence, either through genetic surveillance or from excessive exposure to the mite and its active droppings.[4] The public need to understand and respect house dust mites because they make a lot of us ill. [5,6]

Admittedly, the science for this ‘tale’ is not complete but until there is an explanation for why the mite makes a mange-like enzyme designed to harm it’s the most plausible at this time.

Quotes

It could be speculated that, by delivering allergenic proteases into fecal pellets that exacerbate the hosts immune response and eventually lead to dermatitis and skin exfoliation, HDM could have evolved a mechanism to increase the provision of skin products on which they feed.
Ref: Vidal-Quist et al, J. Insect Physiology,133 (2021) 104285

…house dust mite [HDM] droppings are a rich carrier of not only allergenic proteins but also other components that include mite DNA, bacterial DNA, chitin, environmental pollutants, microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, virus, etc.) and microbial compounds (e.g., endotoxin) all of which could act as an irritant or harm.
Ref. Dust Mite and Tick Bites, Font. Allergy, Sec. Allergens, Vol 2. Review, 2021

Comment

“Although much of what you write concerning the old associations of these mites is speculative, based on their phylogeny [evolutionary tree], it is clear that they evolved from ancestors associated with feathered animals, either true birds or their non-avian dinosaur ancestors."
Barry M O’Connor
Emeritus Professor & Curator
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan