Think spring cleaning eliminates household bugs? Think again.

Spring cleaning is on the to-do list for many this time of year, but before you reach for your broom and mop, you may want to be prepared for the creatures you could find in your dustpan — who are also sharing your home.

A recent study published in the journal PeerJ took up the challenge of cataloging the large numbers of tiny animals, also known as arthropods, that live in modern human dwellings. In a 50 house study around Raleigh, North Carolina, the research team found about a hundred different species of arthropods in each home.

The tally included familiar types — like flies, spiders and ants — but also some species that are less well known, such as gall wasps and book lice.

"Even as entomologists we were really surprised," Michelle Trautwein, lead researcher on the team said in an article. "We live in our houses all the time, so we thought we'd be more familiar with the kind of things we'd come across."

The scientists donned headlamps and knee pads in their hunt for arthropods — creatures that have exoskeletons, multiple appendages and segmented bodies. Any arthropod they turned up was examined by a team of entomologists, using both genetic analysis and traditional visual identification under a microscope. Surprisingly, Trautwein said that it didn't seem to matter how much the human residents cleaned their home, there was still a surprising level of biodiversity regardless.

Among their findings: Homes with kids and pets tended to have the largest variety of these diminutive lodgers. And there were more different species of arthropod on lower floors of a building than higher floors. Common rooms, carpeted rooms and rooms with more windows and doors to the outside seemed to have a greater diversity of micro-guests.

Most of the different types of arthropods they turned up were essentially harmless, and just wandered in from outside. "The vast majority of things we found don't bite or sting or feed on our food," Trautwein said. "Most of them have no effect on our daily lives."

Dust mites are arachnids — small relatives of spiders. Lined up end to end, five dust mites would fit between two millimeter marks on a ruler. Barely visible to the naked eye, dust mites under the microscope look like translucent jellybeans with legs, the article explains. They don't hunt; they just munch on the steady supply of skin flakes we all slough every day.

Dead skin is mainly composed of keratin, a tough structural protein that also gives shape to nails and hair. It's not a particularly nutritious food, but it is abundant. Dust mites use powerful enzymes to break down the keratin and digest it. After that the mites produce waste pellets at a prodigious rate. Along with the exoskeletons the mites shed as they grow, the poop becomes part of the dust in our homes.

Those mite droppings, however, can affect human health as they contain enzymes that can provoke an allergic reaction in the lungs of some people who inhale the dust. Research suggests allergies to dust mites may be a major contributor to childhood asthma.

Interestingly, dust mites didn't start out in human homes. A few years ago, scientists at the University of Michigan found genetic evidence that one type of common dust mite had a parasitic ancestor that clung to birds. It may have gone on to colonize warm, humid nests, too, feeding on sloughed skin and feathers — and some descendant ultimately wandered into the dusty, human nests we call home today.

If the idea of mites in your house give you the creeps, you can somewhat reduce their numbers Trautwein said, by vacuuming and mopping often, ditching the wall-to-wall carpets, and avoiding humid climates — dust mites are rare in the desert. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology advises regular use of a vacuum with a HEPA filter, among other measures, if somebody in your home suffers from dust allergies.

Or, if you don't have these allergies, you might just relax — and realize you can't rid your home of all arthropod visitors.

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