Permanent-attachment
Guides
Echidnophaga gallinacea
hen flea, sticktight flea, stickfast flea
Echidnophaga gallinacea is a small, dark brown flea that parasitizes a broad range of bird and mammal hosts including poultry, dogs, cats, and occasionally humans. Adult females embed permanently into host skin—typically on bare areas of the head and face—using a serrated mouthpart to feed on blood, while males remain mobile. Heavy infestations cause ulceration, dermatitis, anemia, and can be fatal to young or small hosts. The species has spread globally through poultry farming and is now established across tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions.
fleaectoparasitepoultry-pestvectorinvasivecosmopolitanintegrated-pest-managementcage-free-poultrybackyard-chickenshematophagypermanent-attachmentsessile-femaleresilinjumpingctenidia-absentanaemiadermatitisulcerationRickettsiaBartonellaplaguediatomaceous-earthmaldisonpesticide-resistanceorganic-farminganimal-welfareeconomic-entomologyveterinary-entomologyhost-generalisturban-wildlife-interfacesynanthropicHectopsylla
A genus of stick-tight fleas in the family Tungidae, comprising thirteen species that parasitize non-volant mammals, birds, and bats. The genus was established by Von Frauenfeld in 1860, with H. psittaci as the type species. Several species were described by Karl Jordan between 1906 and 1942. The genus exhibits specialized host attachment behaviors, with females of some species becoming permanently embedded in host skin.
Hectopsylla pulex
chigger flea, stick-tight flea
Hectopsylla pulex is a stick-tight flea and the only member of its genus known to parasitize bats. Females attach permanently to the head region of bats, particularly the ears and tragus, where they feed to repletion, become gravid, and die in situ. This species exhibits a unique reproductive strategy involving autosevering of legs upon host attachment and abdominal expansion through mechanical design rather than true neosomy. Males have never been found attached to hosts and are collected exclusively from bat guano, suggesting pre-host copulation occurs. The species is widely distributed across the Neotropics with records from Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Texas, and Arizona.
Lernaeopodidae
Lernaeopodidae is a family of parasitic copepods in the order Siphonostomatoida. Females are typically large and fleshy, attaching permanently to fish hosts using a chitinous plug called the bulla. Males are smaller and cling to females using their antennae. Members parasitize both marine and freshwater fishes, with some species causing significant problems in aquaculture.