Right now, while you read this, tiny animals are tucked into the pores on your face. Don’t worry, they found you first. 🔬

Our friend Chloé Savard, also known as tardibabe on Instagram, zoomed in on Demodex, the microscopic mites that live on nearly every adult human. Two species call us home: Demodex folliculorum settles into hair follicles, while Demodex brevis burrows a little deeper into the oil-producing sebaceous glands. At just 0.2 to 0.4 millimeters long, they’re far too small to see without a microscope, with stubby legs up front and a long tapered body trailing behind.

They’re not alone, either. Our bodies host roughly as many bacterial cells as human ones, plus yeasts and other microbes, making each of us a walking ecosystem.

Face mites keep a strict schedule. During the day they stay tucked inside their follicles, and at night they crawl out across the skin to find mates and feed on sebum, the natural oil our skin produces.…