Ms Dean and Dr Siva-Jothy were testing the idea that fine body hairs (known, technically, as vellus and terminal hairs) are there to alert their owner to creepy crawlies such as bed bugs, which might be intent on biting them, and that the hair may also get in the way of such arthropods' activities, giving the owner more time to react before he is bitten.

ECONOMIST: Body hair

Each eyelet is separated from its neighbours by rows of fine, brush-like hairs called microtrichia.

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