Abstract
Harvest mites are the larvae of trombiculid mites (see Table 22.1 for other common names). They have been a known cause of skin irritation, often very severe, for a long time and have a worldwide distribution. The first species to be identified, now called Neotrombicula autumnalis, was described in 1790 by Shaw. In 1834 it was recognised by Duges as the larval form of a mite (Toomey 1921). The adult stages are seldom seen, although a great deal of investigation about them has been done. Womersley and Heaslip (1943), in their comprehensive review of Far Eastern trombiculids, noted that only two of 15 species were fully documented in larval, nymphal and adult forms. Because of this they are classified on the basis of the morphology of the larvae (Finnegan 1945). Certain species in the Far East (Leptotrombidium akamushi and L. deliense) are known to be vectors of Japanese river fever (scrub typhus, rickettsial typhus, tsutsugamushi fever).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Allington HV, Allington RR (1954) Insect bites. JAMA, 155: 240–247
Andre M (1937) Sur l’apparition brusque des aoutats ou rouget (larves de Thrombicula autumnalis Shaw) (acariens). Bull Museum Nat Hist Nat 2(Ser 9): 378–383
Andre M (1938) Quelques observations sur la larve du Thrombicula autumnalis Shaw a l’etat de vie libre. Bull Soc Zool Fr 63: 45–47
Andrews GC, Domonkos A (1971) Diseases of the skin, 6th edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 390–391
Armstrong EA (1901) Harvest bugs. Lancet II: 709
Audy JR (1951) Trombiculid mites and scrub itch. Aust J Sei 14: 94–96
Baker EW, Evans TM, Gould DT, Hull WE, Keegan HL (1956) A manual of parasitic mites of medical or economic importance. National Pest Control Association Inc, New York
Campbell RW, Domrow R (1974) Rickettsioses in Australia Isolation of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi and R. australia from naturally infected arthropods. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 68: 395–402
Chandler AC (1961) Introduction to parasitology with special reference to the parasites of man, lOth edn. Wiley, New York, pp 531–536
Chittenden FH (1915) Harvest mites or ‘chiggers’. US Dept of Agriculture Farmers Bulletin No 671. US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, pp 1–7
Clayton-Jones O (1901) Harvest bugs. Lancet II: 758
Derrick EH, Womersley H (1954) The scrub-itch mite of Southeast Queensland. Aust J Sei 16: 238–239
Ebeling W (1975) Urban entomology. University of California, Division of Agricultural Science, Los Angeles, Cal
Ewing HE (1921) Studies on the biology and control of chiggers. US Dept of Agriculture Bureau of Entomology Bulletin No 986. US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, pp 1–19
Ewing HE (1925) Sulphur impregnated clothing to protect against chiggers. J Econ Entomol 18: 827–829
Ewing HE (1944) The trombiculid mites (chigger mites) and their relation to disease. J Parasitol 30: 339–365
Farkas J (1977) Problems of trombiculosis and its sporadic incidence (in Czech). Cesk Dermatol 52: 100–106
Feng LL, Hoeppli R (1933) On some histological changes caused by mites. Chin Med J 47: 1191–1199
Finnegan S (1945) Acari as agents transmitting typhus in India, Australia and the Far East. British Museum (Natural History) Economic Series No 16. London, Trustees of the British Museum, pp 7–78
Frazier CA (1969) Insect allergy (allergic reaction to bites of insects and other arthropods). Warren H. Green, St. Louis
Füller HS (1947) Infestation of man in Burma with trombiculid mites, with special reference to Trombicula deliensis. Am J Hyg 45: 363–371
Füller HS (1952) The mite larvae of the family Trombiculidae in the Oudemans Collection: Taxonomy and medical importance. Zool Verhandelingen No 18. E.J. Bell, Leiden, pp 1–261
Gordon RM, Lavoipierre MMJ (1962) Entomology for students of medicine. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 267–272
Gouck HS (1966) Protection from ticks, fleas, chiggers and leeches. Arch Dermatol 93: 112–113
Herms WB (1950) Medical entomology, 4th edn. Macmillan Company, New York
Hirst S (1915) On the “harvest bug” (Microtrombidium autumnalis, Shaw). J Econ Entomol 10: 73–77
Hirst S (1925) On a harvest bug (Leeuwenhoekia australiensis sp. n.) attacking human beings at Sydney, New South Wales. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 19: 150–152
Hirst S (1929) Note on the “Tea-tree itch mite” (Trombicula hirsti, Sambon. - T. pseudo-akamushi, Hato.) Annu Mag Nat Hist 3(Ser 10): 564–565
Jenkins DW (1948) Trombiculid mites affecting man. I. Bionomics with reference to epidemiology in the United States. Am J Hyg 48: 22–35
Jenkins DW (1949) Trombiculid mites affecting man. III. Trombicula (Eutrombicula) splendens Ewing in North America. J Parasitol 35: 201–204
Jones BM (1950) The penetration of the host tissue by the harvest mite Trombicula autumnalis Shaw. Parasitology 40: 247–260
Jourdain (1899) Le styloproct de l’uropode vegetant et le stylostoma des larves de trombidon. Arch Parasitol 11: 28–33. Cited by Trouessart (1899)
Keay G (1937) The ecology of the harvest mite (Trombicula autumnalis) in the British Isles. J Anim Ecol 6: 23–35
MacLennan W (1905) The Leptus autumnalis and its skin lesions. Lancet II: 1765–1766
Madden AH, Lindqvist AW, Knipling EF (1944) Tests of repellents against chiggers. J Econ Entomol 37: 283–286
Maude A (1901) Harvest bugs. Lancet II: 562
Michener CD (1946) Observation on the habits and life history of a chigger mite, Eutrombicula batatas (Acarinae: Trombiculinae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 39: 101–118
Musgrave A (1943) Some arachnids and millipedes from New Guinea. Austr Museum Mag 8: 132–135
Nunez-Andrade R (1960) Dermatozoonosis. Rev Med Mex 40: 449–467
Palm TA (1878) Some account of a disease called “shimamushi” or “island insect disease” by the natives of Japan peculiar, it is believed, to that country and hitherto not described. Edinburgh Med J 24: 128–132
Parkhurst HJ (1937) Trombidiosis (infestation with chiggers). Arch Dermatol Syphilol 35: 1011–1036
Pernet G (1901) Harvest bugs. Lancet II: 616, 758
Philip CB, Kohls GM (1948) Mites and scrub typhus. Proceedings of the 4th international congress of tropical medicine and hygiene, May 1948, Washington DC. 2: 1656–1663
Philip CB, Woodward TE (1946) Tsutsugamushi disease (scrabor mite-borne typhus) in the Philippine Islands during American re-occupation in 1944–1945. II Observations on trombiculid mites. J Parasitol 32: 502–515
Pülsbury DH, Sulzberger MB, Livingood CS (1942) Manual of dermatology. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 329–340
Richards WS (1950) The distribution and biology of the harvest mite in Great Britain (Trombiculidae: Acarina) Parasitology 40: 118–126
Rook A (1979) Skin diseases caused by arthropods and other venomous or noxious animals, In: Rook A, Wilkinson DS, Ebeling FJG (eds) Textbook of dermatology, 3rd edn. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 911–954
Sambon LW (1927) The “scrub-itch mite” of North Queensland: a new species of Trombicula. Annu Mag Nat Hist 20(Ser 10): 157–161
Schüffner W (1915) Pseudotyphoid fever in Deli, Sumatra (a variety of Japanese kedani fever). Philippine J Sei (Biol) 10: 345–351
Shelmire B (1937) In discussion of Parkhurst (1937). Arch Dermatol Syphilol 35: 1011–1036
Southcott RV (1947) Observations on the epidemiology of tsutsugamushi disease in North Queensland. Med J Aust 2: 441–450
Thresh JC (1906) Erythema autumnale, harvest rash or prurigo du rouget. Lancet II: 1277
Toomey N (1921) Trombidiasis (Leptus autumnalis). Urol Cutan Rev 25: 598–608
Touraine A (1947) Les traitements actuels des parasites animales de la peau. Bailliere, Paris, pp 133–135
Trouessart EL (1899) Sur la pique de rouget. Arch Parasitol 11: 286–290
United States Department of Agriculture (1976) Home and Garden Bulletin No 137 Agricultural Research Service. US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, pp 1–10
Vercammen-Grandjean P-H (1965) Revision of the genera Eltonella Audy 1956 and Microtrombicula Ewing 1950 with description of fifty new species and transferal of sub-genus Chiroptella to genus Leptotrombidium (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Acarologia 7(Suppl): 34–257
Vercammen-Grandjean P-H (1968) Chiggers of the Far East (Acarina: Trombiculiidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae), vol 1. US Army Medical Research Development Command, Washington DC, p 138
Wharton GW, Füller HS (1952) A manual of the chiggers. Mem Entomol Soc Washington 4: 1–185
Womersley H, Heaslip WG (1943) The Trombiculinae (Acarina) or itch mite of the Austro Malayan and oriental regions. Trans R Soc S Aust 67: 68–142
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
O’Donel Alexander, J. (1984). Infestation with Trombiculid Mite Larvae. In: Arthropods and Human Skin. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1356-0_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1356-0_22
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1358-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1356-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive