SCP-165 escapes from the heat of the sun in an abandoned building
Housed in a facility at Armed Bio-Containment Area-14 By the SCP Fondation, and is treated as a contagious, pathological organism, SCP-165 is a colony of arachnids that resemble typical parasitic mites. Its nickname is The Creeping, Hungry Sands of Tule, and is classified as Keter. It measures seven hundred fifty (750) micrometers in length, with eight (8) legs and a genetic structure similar to the house dust mite. The main difference is the hermit-crab-like behavior of attaching grains of sand to its back.
It is unknown what purpose the sand serves, but the massive colony of SCP-165 numbers in the hundreds of billions to possibly trillions, creating a rather large dune. SCP-165's colony is made up of individual Acari who don't show cooperation but rather competition in the hunt for food. Like mosquitoes, they rely on chemical detection of carbon dioxide and sugars in the air to detect prey. The Acari mites roll and bound over one another toward prey, only using their legs to climb over one another. When in contact with the flesh of animals, they release a numbing chemical toxin in their bite, similar in make-up to that of mosquito and flea bite toxins. Subjects are typically unaware that millions of mites are 'taking turns' at grabbing mouthfuls of its flesh as they swarm around their victim.
An electron microscope image of SCP-165
A typical swarm resembles a swirling vortex around a victim or victim's appendage. The SCP-165 colony is efficient enough in their competitive swarming that most animals' appendages can be de-fleshed and reduced to bone within minutes. Like anesthetic, the numbing toxin is so effective that sleeping victims may not wake up as their limbs are eaten away. The Acari mites are resistant to all but the most dangerous of pesticides. They retreat from heat and will often seek shade when available, being the most active during the night, hunting for large sleeping prey. Their vulnerability to heat is the most preferable technique for containment.