136 THE SAMD-FLEA. 



from the old genus Pxler and placed in another one. Both 

 sexes imbibe blood of man and many other animals, as dogs, 

 hogs, cats, goats, sheep, cattle and rodents, just hke other 

 fleas; but as soon as the female is ready to deposit her eggs 

 she penetrates so deep into the skin of man or animal that 

 only the posterior end is visible. In man she selects the 



Fig. 114. — Sand-flea, male. Greatly enlarged After Karsten 



Space beneath the nails, chiefly of the toes, and here her ab- 

 domen swells to the size of a pea (fig. 113). The eggs are 

 deposited from time to time, and forced out of the invaded 

 place drop to the ground, where they hatch and live like the 

 eggs and larvae of other fleas. The male is shown in fig. 114. 



Sand-fleas have been carried from America to Africa, and 

 with greater intercourse between the United States and 

 tropical America it is possible that they may also become 

 much more numerous in our more southern states. 



The injuries caused by the female of Chigoe to the human 

 host are not great if the proper pains are taken to remove 

 the swollen insect from beneath the toes without ruptur- 

 ing her skin. Yet all sores caused by insects in the tropics 

 are much more dangerous than elsewhere, and in many cases 

 the loss of a toe, even of a life, has been the consequence of 

 carelessness. If the female is left under the toe no serious 

 consequences take place, as the larval fleas do not live there, 

 as is frequentl}' stated. 



Length of sand-flea 1 to 1.2mm.; of females swollen 

 with eggs 5 to 7mm. 



