Chiggers

[Penny Brockman <>]

In Peru, chiggers (or jiggers) are fleas - the females lay their eggs in 
any part of the feet they can reach (and anywhere else in the body they 
can get to - a guy I know had one in the ball of his thumb and another 
guy in his buttocks - he spent too much time wearing very short shorts 
sitting by the side of a small irrigation canal washing sherds), where 
the eggs hatch and grow just under the skin. A small black spot 
indicates the egg shell.  Local Peruvian indians around where I worked 
with an archaeological project in 1982,  had heavily scarred toes, and 
our camp doctor spent quite a lot of time digging the grubs out of 
children's toes, as well as the two unfortunate guys above.  Nice things 
to provide habitat for! 
> Tony,
> Chiggers are mites and we have them here. Some of the Aussie ones are 
> pretty nasty.
> Regards,
> Alan