What is "cheese mite"

Cheese \Cheese\ (ch[=e]z), n. [OE. chese, AS. c[=e]se, fr. L. caseus, LL. casius. Cf. Casein.]

1. The curd of milk, coagulated usually with rennet, separated from the whey, and pressed into a solid mass in a hoop or mold.

2. A mass of pomace, or ground apples, pressed together in the form of a cheese.

3. The flat, circular, mucilaginous fruit of the dwarf mallow ( Malva rotundifolia). [Colloq.]

4. A low courtesy; -- so called on account of the cheese form assumed by a woman's dress when she stoops after extending the skirts by a rapid gyration.
   --De Quincey.
   --Thackeray.

   Cheese cake, a cake made of or filled with, a composition of soft curds, sugar, and butter.
   --Prior.

   Cheese fly (Zo["o]l.), a black dipterous insect ( Piophila casei) of which the larv[ae] or maggots, called skippers or hoppers, live in cheese.

   Cheese mite (Zo["o]l.), a minute mite ( Tryoglyhus siro) in cheese and other articles of food.

   Cheese press, a press used in making cheese, to separate the whey from the curd, and to press the curd into a mold.

   Cheese rennet (Bot.), a plant of the Madder family ( Golium verum, or yellow bedstraw), sometimes used to coagulate milk. The roots are used as a substitute for madder.

   Cheese vat, a vat or tub in which the curd is formed and cut or broken, in cheese making.

n. Any of several species of mite that thrive on the surface of cheese and feed on it. They are used on purpose in production of some types of cheese to give the cheese a distinct flavor.

Cheese mites are mites that are used to produce such cheeses as and Mimolette. The action of the living mites on the surface of these cheeses contributes to the flavor and gives them a distinctive appearance. A 2010 SEM study found that Milbenkäse cheese was produced using Tyrophagus casei mites, while Mimolette cheese used Acarus siro mites (also known as flour mites).