[mfgs]

> Their reproductive organs have moved anteriorly, and males have a penis that protrudes upwards from the front of their body meaning they have to position themselves underneath the female when mating, and copulate as they both cling onto the human hair.

Does this mean they’ll die off relatively quickly if all body hair is cut off? Or does this happen beneath the skin?

[matheusmoreira]

The hair follicle is inside the skin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_follicle

There are hair removal methods that permanently destroy the follicle. It's unknown whether Demodex can cope with that. Wouldn't that be an interesting study...

[vonadz]

I wonder if people with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_universalis have them?

[matheusmoreira]

Good question. I searched for studies but only got papers examining whether these mites cause alopecia.