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[Tunga penetrans]

Tunga penetrans (also known as chigoe flea, jigger, nigua, chica, pico, cique, or suthi) burrows under the skin of humans, unlike other fleas which are ectoparasitic on the surface of the skin.  The females remain embedded in the host tissue during engorgement and egg-production.  The fleas are usually found between the toes or under toe nails, and humans acquire the infection when walking barefoot in tropical and subtropical regions.  Adults may be dissected out of lesions and are characterized by a lack of both pronotal and genal combs.

A	B

A: Tunga penetrans removed from a lesion on the bottom of the foot of a patient who traveled to Africa.  The bulk of the lesion and the posterior part of the flea are marked with a blue arrow.  The anterior end of the flea, showing the head, mouthparts and forelegs, is marked with a green arrow.  Note the lack of pronotal and genal combs.  A single egg (yellow arrow), is also shown.
B: Eggs of T. penetrans liberated from the lesion on the second toe of a patient who traveled to Guyana.  Image courtesy of Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI.

C

C: Close-up of the eggs from the specimen in Figure B.