PARASITES FREE WHILE YOUNG. 



141 



isopode crustaceans, an order to which" the CloportidsB 

 (wood-lice) belong, many of which require uninterrupted 

 assistance ; then we will turn to the Lernseans, which 

 surpass all the rest in their many and bizarre trans- 

 formations. 



Fig. 26.— Male Chigoe. Fig. 27.— Head of Chigoe. 



We have first to speak of the Chigoe, an insect, the 

 female of which alone demands lodging and provisions, 

 the male being contented, like those of the preceding 

 chapter, with pillaging his victim as he passes by. This 

 parasite of man inhabits South America, and has 

 received the name of Pulex penetrans, or, according to the 

 latest nomenclature, of Rhyncoprion penetrans. It is a 

 very small species, which 

 pierces the shoes and the 

 clothes with its pointed beak 

 (Fig. 27), and penetrates 

 into the substance of the 

 skin; the male (Fig. 26) is 

 contented with sucking the 

 blood, and then resumes 

 its wanderings, like the 

 parasites of which we have 

 spoken in the preceding Fig. as. -Female chigoe, 



chapter; while the female finds for herself a hiding- 



