Dragon Mite Infestation
Causes
The Dragon Mites are a species of biting and burrowing parasitic insect. They feed by burrowing under a dragon's skin and biting until they have taken their fill of blood, at which point they will leave to lay their eggs on the surface of a dragon's skin.
Symptoms
Itching, mild pain, bleeding, small lesions, and mild allergic reaction to the insect's saliva are the most common reactions in medium to large size dragons. Typically, these symptoms are little more than a nuisance unless a mite happens to die while under the skin, at which point it's body can cause a rather nasty infection. In smaller dragons. humanoids, or other animals, the mites can cause quite a lot more damage as their bites can leave behind large scars, cause massive bleeding, and are excruciatingly painful as the creature burrows under the skin. Generally, they can only be removed surgically and this itself can be dangerous, as the insect may try to burrow further under the skin by chewing its way through the flesh, risking high amounts of damage to blood vessels and muscles. Individuals who are host to a large number of the insects may become anemic due to blood loss from them feeding alone.
Treatment
Removal of the insects themselves as well as using insect repellent are the most common treatments. Dressing wounds caused by the bugs is highly recommended, as they can easily cause infections to take hold and be vectors of entry for other diseases and parasites.
Hosts & Carriers
Dragons are the primary intended host of the mite, hence their name. For most medium to large size dragons, despite the mite's painful bite, they are little more than a nuisance. Small dragons, humanoids, and other animals may find the pain from a single mite to be excruciating however, and anemia is possible with a large number of the insects feeding on the same individual.
Prevention
For dragons, rolling in clays dense with copper or iron deems to repel the mite and irritate current infestations enough for them to detach completely. Certain plants such as cedar, onion, and garlic also seem to keep the insect at bay as well when blended into a puree and placed over the spots they are inhabiting. Anti-insect repellants also work quite well.
In many regions known to have outbreaks of the pest, it is required for dragons to take a 'flame bath' before they may leave the area. This is done by the dragon breathing flame as it takes off, in order to envelop the body for 3-10 seconds. Flame bathing does not remove infestations of the adult parasite, however will destroy any and all eggs attached to the dragon, preventing the reproductive cycle from occurring and the eggs from being spread as the dragon flies.
Epidemiology
Dragon mites utilize their clever reproductive process in order to spread their populations. By laying their eggs on the outer surface of a dragon's scales, they are not protected from the elements or the dragon themselves scratching and itching the eggs off; most of the eggs will come off quite easily when a dragon flies at a relatively average speed naturally.
This has proved immensely successful, allowing the mite to spread all over the Northern Hemisphere and be particularly prevalent in areas with high traffic of flying dragons. It is thought that dragon mite infestations being much more uncommon in the Southern Hemisphere is due to that typically, the south is much more humid than the north, preventing the mite's eggs from being able to dry enough to separate from their host.
Cultural Reception
Most of dragonkind regard infestations of the mites to be a mark of poor personal hygiene, as dust bathing in certain clays and soils typically repels the mite to prevent becoming its host in the first place as well as remove any eggs.
Comments