Random Fascinating, Slightly Disgusting Creatures That Can Live On Your Body (12 items)

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  (#1) Head Lice, Little Guys That Love Your Scalp's Thin Skin

  Head lice are one of the most common types of creatures that can live on a person’s body. These tiny insects live on the scalp where they have easy access to long hair on which they can lay their eggs. It also provides them with the opportunity to feed easily, as the thin skin on the scalp is easy to penetrate and enables the louse to bite into the flesh and drink the blood.

  Millions of people in the United States alone are infested with head lice every year, particularly children, as they can spread quickly with close contact between individuals.
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  (#2) Bed Bugs, Sneaky Nighttime Residents Of Your Body

  Bed bugs are a common problem throughout the world. These small, oval-shaped insects can reach sizes of up to 5 mm long, and they feed on blood. While they do not technically live on the human body, they do spend an extended amount of time on people during the night, when they crawl out from their hiding spots in beds and mattresses to bite exposed skin.

  Thankfully, they are usually harmless and do not spread any diseases, though some people can suffer from an allergic reaction if bitten.
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  (#3) Ticks, Bacteria-Filled Hitchhikers Who Love Human Flesh

  Ticks are tiny arachnids that can range in size from just a few millimeters to one or two centimeters. They are found all around the world and live by feeding on mammals, birds, and even reptiles. Usually located in wooded or forested areas, the parasites attach themselves onto their hosts from branches and brambles.

  Once they have bitten a victim, a tick is capable of causing a great deal of harm to a person as they have the ability to carry a number of diseases and transmit them to anybody they come into contact with. This can include Lyme disease and the malaria-like babeiosis.
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  (#4) Chigoe Flea, Who Breathes, Defecates, And Lays Eggs In Your Skin

  Although rare, chigoe fleas are insects that can latch onto a variety of different hosts. An infestation of these fleas is known as tungiasis, and they are particularly nasty as they are also likely to lead to other forms of infection from their presence. After arriving on a host, the insects latch onto the skin and then bury their heads into the flesh.

  Its hind legs remain exposed on the skin, allowing the disgusting pest to breath and defecate while it lays hundreds of eggs under the skin. They are most common in South America and Africa, where they attach themselves to the feet of their victims. Unlike many of the other creatures that can live on your body, these fleas can cause severe damage such as gangrene, tuberculosis, and necrosis of the flesh.
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  (#5) Crabs, A Parasitic Side Effect Of Sexy Time

  Crabs are a type of pubic lice that get their name from the fact that they look like miniature crabs, complete with six legs and small claws. Like other forms of lice, they feed on blood and infect humans to get access to a food source. They are primarily found in pubic areas, but the creatures can also be found on other parts of the body with coarse hair, including eyebrows, facial hair, and the legs.

  Unlike some of the other disgusting creatures that can live on a human body, they are capable of living on people of all races and locations. As you might have guessed, crabs are generally passed on through sexual contact.
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  (#6) Chiggers, Larvae That Use Chemicals To Form Holes In Your Skin

  Chiggers are a species of trombiculidae that are closely related to ticks. However, they are much smaller than their relatives and will usually only reach sizes of around 0.4 mm, meaning they are practically microscopic and difficult to spot. Capable of living in almost any sort of vegetation, they attach to a host - including humans - during their larval stage so that they can feed on blood.

  They do this by using chemicals to form a hole in the flesh rather than biting. The disgusting creatures continue to live on the human body until they are finished feeding and simply drop off to mature into their harmless adult forms.
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  (#7) Body Lice, Who Evolved Along With Human Clothing

  Unlike their relatives the head lice, these parasitic insects tend to live mostly on clothing. They first originated some 100,000 years ago, around the same time humans began to wear clothes, and only travel to the skin to feed.

  The creatures have a similar life cycle to head lice and are around the same size and shape. Luckily, they are far rarer than their head brethren as they only affect those who don’t have access to regular bathing and washing facilities or clean clothing.
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  (#8) Face Mites, Which 100% Of People Have

  Face mites, more specifically known as Demodex folliculorum, are a type of tiny organism that live on the human body. The microscopic creatures generally grow between 0.1 to 0.4 mm in length and live in hair follicles. Looking like tiny worms with claws and scales, they can most commonly be found on the face and head where they have a large supply of food.

  Recent studies have shown that 100% of people involved in studies have the DNA of these mites on their faces, suggesting that every single human has an infestation of the harmless yet disgusting creatures.
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  (#9) Scabies Mites, Who Thrive In Prisons And Hospitals

  The scabies mite is a microscopic creature that can live on your body. Although they aren’t particularly common, the organisms can spread quickly in populated or confined spaces, such as prisons and hospitals. The tiny mites burrow into the skin and lay eggs in the flesh.

  This causes rashes and irritation to the skin, often prompting severe itchiness. Outbreaks can become severe in a short amount of time as the mites are highly contagious and can pass on with brief contact.
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  (#10) Belly Button Bacteria, At Home In A Tropical Navel Paradise

  The human body is teaming with bacteria, both on the surface and inside it. However, there is one location that acts as a perfect home for thousands of different types of bacteria. The naval, or belly button, essentially acts as a rain forest for a greater variety of these microscopic creatures than any other part of the body.

  This comes as the result of a number of factors, including the fact that the naval is ideally located, and it is washed less often than other body parts due to the fact that it acts as a crevice. These conditions make it the perfect home for all types of different bacteria.
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  (#11) Kissing Bugs, Who Feed On Human Hosts In The Night

  Also known as vampire bugs, these insects are generally known for coming out of their refuge during the night to find a host to feed on. There are thousands of different varieties of kissing bugs, and a few of them specialize in feeding on humans while they sleep. Being much bigger than many of the other creatures than can live on the human body, they tend to avoid spending a significant amount of time on a person but can sometimes latch onto the skin for extended periods. They are also capable of transmitting Chagas disease to those they bite.
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  (#12) Dust Mites, Who Feast On Your Dead Skin

  Dust mites are tiny creatures that can be found in locations all around the world. The fact that they are tiny - typically only around 0.2 to 0.3 mm long - and semi-translucent means they are almost impossible to spot with the naked eye. The disgusting creatures feast largely on dead skin and other discarded organic material, making human homes the perfect environment for them to live.

  Occasionally, dust mites will latch onto a person rather than their usual home of furniture and furnishings, but they don’t burrow under the skin like many other mites. That doesn’t stop them from causing dangerous allergic reactions due to powerful enzymes they use to break down their food.

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