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chigger

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

chigger minute, six-legged, reddish larva of the harvest mite , one of various red bugs widely distributed throughout the world and common in the S United States. Attaching itself by its mouthparts to the skin of its vertebrate host, the chigger injects saliva that destroys cells and may cause an intense irritation known as red-bug dermatitis. The food of the chigger consists of the cellular contents and tissue fluid of the host. Certain Asian species carry minute organisms (rickettsias) that cause scrub typhus, a disease of humans. Chiggers are classified in the phylum Arthropoda , class Arachnida, order Acarina, family Trombidiidae.

Author not available, CHIGGER., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press

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