tungid

tungid (plural tungids)

1. (zoology) Any flea of the family Tungidae.
   • 1982, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association, Volume 34, Parts 1981-1996, page 33,

     Tungid fleas, one of which is commonly known as the sand flea, can cause such damage to a person. The tungid female embeds itself into the skin of the host until just the end of the abdomen is exposed. It swells to the size of a pea as its eggs develop.

   • 2004, Kenneth L. Gage, Chapter 7: Fleas, the Syphonaptera, William H. Marquardt (editor), Biology of Disease Vectors, page 81,

     These same features are likely to be much reduced in other fleas, such as tungids and sticktights, that attach more firmly to the host and feed for long periods at a particular site.

   • 2005, M. J. Lehane, The Biology of Blood-Sucking in Insects‎, page 214:

     As well as fleas, which move freely in the home and pelage of the host, there are those, like the tungids (Tungidae) and alakurts (Vermipsyllidae), that burrow into its skin and become neosomic (Fig. 9.5).

• (species of Tungidae): chigoe flea, sand flea

• sticktight