APHANIPTERA. 183 



Another species called the Chigoe (Pulex penetrans), 

 very common in the warm parts of America, is armed 

 with a beak as long as its body. The abdomen of the 

 female, when distended with eggs, grows to the size of 

 a small pea, while the insect itself is scarcely so large as 

 our common species. It insinuates itself beneath the 

 skin and into the flesh of men and other animals, par- 

 ticularly about the feet and toes, where it deposits its eggs 

 and sometimes causes great pain and ill-conditioned sores. 

 The only remedy is to remove the eggs, which are enclosed 

 in a little bag, with a needle, an operation which the 

 negroes perform very skilfully. 



The Thysanoura, Parasita, and Aphaniptera, having 

 no wings, are frequently spoken of under the general 

 name of Aptera, or apterous (i. e. wingless) insects. 

 All the other orders of insects hare wings, and are 

 spoken of as " winged insects" 



