Scabies mite
Sarcoptes scabiei (DeGeer, 1778)
Status not recordedarachnids
The scabies mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) is an arachnid in the family Sarcoptidae, within the genus Sarcoptes. It belongs to the class Arachnida, order Sarcoptiformes, suborder Astigmata and superfamily Sarcoptoidea, in the phylum Arthropoda.
Quick facts about the scabies mite
Other English names for the species are Itch mite and Sarcoptic mange mite, and its scientific name authority is (DeGeer, 1778).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 0.3 mm – 0.45 mmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 0.0575 years – 0.0767 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Egg incubation
- 3 days – 10 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the scabies mite?
Photos of the scabies mite
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the scabies mite live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
Also listed for parts of: United States (Hawaii).
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
What is the scabies mite?
Sarcoptes scabiei (; sar-KOP-teez SKAY-bee-eye) or the itch mite is a parasitic mite found in all parts of the world that burrows into skin and causes scabies. Humans become infested by Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis, which is a particular public health problem in crowded settings such as care homes, schools, refugee camps, prisons, and hospitals. Other mammals can be infested with different varieties of the mite, including wild and domesticated dogs and cats (in which it is one cause of mange), ungulates, wild boars, bovids, wombats, koalas, and great apes.
The Italian biologists Giovanni Cosimo Bonomo and Diacinto Cestoni showed in the 17th century that scabies is caused by Sarcoptes scabiei; this discovery of the itch mite in 1687 marked scabies as the first disease of humans with a known microscopic causative agent. The disease produces intense, itchy skin rashes when the impregnated female tunnels into the stratum corneum of the skin and deposits eggs in the burrow. The larvae, which hatch in three to 10 days, move about on the skin, moult into a nymphal stage, and then mature into adult mites. The adult mites live three to four weeks in the host's skin.
From the Wikipedia article “Sarcoptes scabiei” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sarcoptes_scabiei&oldid=1360734476), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the scabies mite endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the scabies mite classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classArachnida
- orderSarcoptiformes
- familySarcoptidae
- genusSarcoptes
- SpeciesSarcoptes scabiei (DeGeer, 1778)
Synonyms Acarus scabiei, Acarus sira scabiei, Sarcoptes equi, Sarcoptes homines, Sarcoptes suis, Sarcoptes wombati
Other names and names in other languages (25)
- Itch miteEnglish
- Sarcoptic mange miteEnglish
- SkurftemytAfrikaans
- سوس الحكةArabic
- القارمة الجربيةArabic
- zákožka svrabováCzech
- FnatmideDanish
- KrätzemilbeGerman
- Ácaro de la sarnaSpanish
- Ácaro de la escabiosisSpanish
- arador de la manoSpanish
- Arador de la sarnaSpanish
- cironFrench
- Acarien de la galeFrench
- SarcopteFrench
- קרדית סקביאסHebrew
- bacolinoItalian
- ヒゼンダニJapanese
- 옴진드기Korean
- siere or sierkenDutch
- świerzbowiec drążącyPolish
- Ácaro-da-sarnaPortuguese
- Чесоточный зуденьRussian
- rävskabbSwedish
- Uyuz AkarıTurkish
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistNCBI TaxonomyWikidataWoRMS
Relatives of the scabies mite
Other species in the same genus Sarcoptes.
CompareScabies mite vs Cnemidocoptes laevisScabies mite vs Sarcoptes aucheniaeScabies mite vs Sarcoptes bubalusScabies mite vs Sarcoptes caprae
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the scabies mite?
The scabies mite is an arachnid. It belongs to the class Arachnida in the phylum Arthropoda.
What is the scientific name of the scabies mite?
The scientific name of the scabies mite is Sarcoptes scabiei, in the genus Sarcoptes.
What are other names for the scabies mite?
The scabies mite is also called the Itch mite and the Sarcoptic mange mite.
Who named Sarcoptes scabiei and when?
The scientific name authority for Sarcoptes scabiei is (DeGeer, 1778).
What family does the scabies mite belong to?
The scabies mite belongs to the family Sarcoptidae, in the superfamily Sarcoptoidea.
What order is the scabies mite in?
The scabies mite is in the order Sarcoptiformes and the suborder Astigmata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Scabies mite (Sarcoptes scabiei). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/scabies-mite
“Scabies mite (Sarcoptes scabiei).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/scabies-mite.
@misc{scabies_mite_2026,
title = {Scabies mite (Sarcoptes scabiei)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/scabies-mite},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}