h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: dust mites - A1059482
Author: Tacysa - U228615

tell me how it is.

That's a very good entry, Tacysa - well done!

Here's my , nevertheless.

- This isn't essential to do, but the article would look nicer if GuideML was used for headers, chemical formulae and numbered lists. If you'd like to convert it to GuideML, just ask here and I could describe how to do so.

- The first sentence, "I know this is a bit out of the ordinary, but I find these little creatures to be quite fascinating.", doesn't fit into the style of entries in the Edited Guide, as the first person is used, so it should, in my opinion, be removed.

- "...dust mites undoubtedly rule..." - I think the sentence would read better without the 'undoubtedly'.

- The second word in an organism's scientific name is the 'species' it belongs to, not the 'phylum' it belongs to.

- I think "What came first, the dust mite or the egg?" would read better as "Which came..."

- "...the egg will wait for five..." makes it sound like nothing is happening inside the egg at that time. I think it would be better as "...the larva will develop inside the egg for five..."

- "Unlike most nonmetals, borax..." makes it sound as if borax is a metal! I think it would be more clear if written as "Unlike most other nonmetals, borax..."

- "They measure about three hundred electrons". That doesn't sound right! I think you meant to put "They are about 300 micrometres long". An electron is many orders of magnitude smaller than a dustmite, or any other animal.


And lastly, the pedantic bits.

- The entry would be easier to read if there was a line's gap between paragraphs, as, right now, it's very text heavy!

- The Edited Guide's style is British English, so realize > realise; italicized > italicised; neutralize > neutralise; fecal > faecal (etc)

- A few typos. "much of a deal, ," > "much of a deal,"; capitalixed" > capitalised; delacacies > delicacies; realative humidity > relative humidity; esophagus > oesophagus; afainst > against; fro > from; envireonment > environment


Well done again.

RhoMuNuQ

Thank you! I just finished editing...At the moment I am trying to work out my indention difficulties, but the conversion for plain to guideml is going pretty well. Thank you for you commentary!

No problem!

It was me who answered your GuideML question in the other thread.

RhoMuNuQ

woops. well, can you explain how to indent, or would it just be better to put a line between each paragraph??

You can't indent in GuideML. It bothers me, but you'll just have to get used to it

thats what i wanted to know! i shall improvise...

Couldn't you indent by using several times?

I'd better go and read the entry now

i honestly wounldnt know, i try to avoid anything dealing with anything close to html! i am a technical disaster...

Ok. Overall, a very good entry, and after a little work has been done on it I don't see any problems in attracting a Scout to make recommendation

I think the first paragraph in the 'Taxonomy' section is superfluous. Most people know of, or at least recognise a formal taxonomy, and I don't thing that explaining it adds anything to the entry.

It will look much better if you enclose each paragraph in a paragraph tag - ... contents of paragraph ...

What effects do artificial heating and cooling have upon mites?

"The phases are an egg, a larva, a protonymph, a tritonymph, and, finally, an adult with either the male or the female gender."
I don't think you need to bother with 'with either the male or the female gender' - there are only two sexes, male and female, and it would only be worth bringing up if they were for instance, hermaphrodites, or even a third sex.

"2. the larva- When the larva emerges from its spherical prison, it will feed for three to ten days before metamorphosing."
Is it feeding on skin?

"3. the protonymph- A protonymph must wait from four to seven days before reaching its next stage."
What does it do whilst waiting?

"4. the tritonymph- The tritonymph must feed and grow for around five to eight days."
If you've already explained what the larva feeds on you don't need to add anything here if the tritonymph feeds on the same.

"5. the adult- The adult dust mite is capable of breeding within twenty-four hours of full development. The female can lay from thirty to one hundred eggs and a single generation lasts about twenty-five days."
Is that thirty to one hundred eggs at one time, or in a lifetime?

"Because the house is a controlled environment and dust mite reproduction is not limited by seasons..."
Earlier in the entry you said that articial heating/cooling in a house was detrimental to dust mites, but here it seems to be beneficial.

"a person spends 75-80% of his or her time in a bedroom"
That would be around 17 or 18 hours every day Nice work if you can get it Perhaps you mean 'a person spends 75-80% of his or her time spent at home in the bedroom'

"A HEPA (high efficiency particle arrestor) can eliminate the problem of redistribution..."
Should that be 'A HEPA (high efficiency particle arrestor) filter can eliminate...'?

Sorry if that seems like a lot of things to think about, but I reckon this entry has great potential, and I don't see why it shouldn't get into the Edited Guide with a little more work

Well, I made the comment about indentation as a rhetorical question anyway - it wouldn't be allowed in an edited entry as it's not the house style

i have taken a great deal of the advice given, so thanky much. i really think that it would be best to leave in the taxonomic information as many people may not be as aware of it as you are.

I think you could add some bits to the removing and preventing them section. I know the entry isn't about allergies exactly, but you might as well stick them in, it's a great entry!

Use blinds, not curtains, and make the room as cool, dry and light as possible. Dust mites like dark damp warm places. I always throw my covers off and open a window. I don't use curtains anymore, but if other people do, make sure they are open wide. This helps to keep them down in your mattress. Don't use carpets in bedrooms if you can avoid this. Don't use those things that you hang on radiators and fill with water.

Putting things in the freezer doesn't really work as it's often the faeces that causes the problems rather than the mites themselves, but it does help a bit. Chuck them all out is a better idea. And the ater has to be above 50 something degrees to kill them. I can't remember the exact temperature, but I can find out if you want. It's best to wash covers and duvets things at 60 - you can buy duvets that will take a wash like this. They don't die otherwise.

Dusting with a wet cloth is better than a dry cloth, although I take the 'no dusting' option personally.

I hope this is helpful. Having asthma and rhinitus I hate the blighters.

i know what you mean! they are truly evil. i think i have something in there about washing them at a certain temp, but ill check.

I saw it said hot water, but I did get a bit distracted while I was reading it, so I might have missed it.

ill check when i think about it and add it if i need to.

I think it's useful info to have.

i just checked and added the temps (which happened to be 55 degree Celsius) and I already had the thing about getting rid of carpets, curtains, and stuffies. i love my new home because we dont have a single carpeted area in it! its great not having to worry about them colonizing my floor...

There's also an Edited Guide Entry on Taxonomy which you might want to link to (A600508)

i shall do that once i figure it out! thanx.