User:Alan R Walker/draft article on Mites of domestic animals
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Mites of domestic animals
Mites that infest and parasitize domestic animals cause disease and loss of production. This article introduces this wide topic with selected examples of the main groups and emphasizes mechanisms of disease. Effective treatments against mites are available and owners of animals and veterinary professionals can do much to alleviate the suffering caused by these parasites. Mites are small invertebrates, most of which are free living but some are parasitic. Mites are similar to ticks and both comprise the order Acari in the phylum Arthropoda. Mites are very varied and their classification is complex; only a simple grouping is used in this introductory article. Vernacular terms to describe diseases caused by mites (scab, mange, scabies etc.) are often used synonymously; this article avoids them. Mites and ticks have substantially different biology from, and are classed separately from, insects (the class Insecta). Mites of domestic animals cause important types of skin disease, and some mites infest other organs. Diagnosis of mite infestations can be difficult because of the small size of most mites, but understanding where the mites are adapted to feed within to the structure of the skin is useful.