Adult female mites lay 2–3 eggs per day within the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum.
[3] The parasitic mite Sarcoptes anthracis was first classified by Dmitri Ivanovsky in 1901, after initial cases of infection were observed in Asian Tufted Deer.
These mites burrow into the skin of their host, causing sarcoptic mange, predominantly affecting even-toed ungulates.
The young mites, after hatching, move across the skin and molt into the nymphal stage, where they may harbor the bacterial pathogen Bacillus anthracis in their digestive system.
As vectors, the mites can transmit anthrax, leading to fatal infections in hosts whose immune systems are weakened by the mange.