Knemidokoptes pilae is a mite which parasitises the beaks of psittacines, particularly budgerigars, causing a mange known as 'scaly face'.

At the ends of the extremities, males have unjointed grippers and suckers, while females have claws.

K. pilae lives off the substance of the beak, which it dissolves by means of a keratinase.

They live primarily in the cere and at the base of the beak of the infected birds.

The viviparous females drill tunnels in the epidermis where they give birth to six-legged larvae, which develop through two eight-legged nymphal stages from the second of which the adults molt.