136 THE SAMD-FLEA. 
from the old genus Puler 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 like 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 


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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 larve 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 Chigue 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 fleasdo not live there, 
as is frequently stated. 
Length of sand-flea 1 to 1.2mm.; of females swollen 
with eggs 5 to 7mm. 
