tungid

plural tungids

1. biologyAny flea of the family Tungidae.

   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.

   2004, Kenneth L. Gage, “Chapter 7: Fleas, the Syphonaptera”, in William H. Marquardt, editor, Biology of Disease Vectors, page 81

   2 more examples

   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.

   1982, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Utah Mosquito Abatement Association, Volume 34, Parts 1981-1996, page 33

   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).

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

plural Tungids

1. historicalanthropologyA racial classification used in physical anthropology as a Mongoloid subrace found in Inner Mongolia and parts of Siberia.

   The Yayoi are believed to be of Tungid stock and it is possible that northern mythology percolated to them in the regions of their origin.

   1998, R. Weerakoon, Mythology & the Early Asian State, page 137

   2 more examples

   The Mongolid (Tungid and north Sinid) strain of the prehistoric Japanese must, to a large extent, be attributed to arrivals from Korea by way of the Tsushima straits, attested to by finds of clay vessels with pointed bottoms and with roller-stamped décor such as were made at Sobatu (north Kyushu).

   1964, Encyclopædia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, volume 2, page 264

   It is also presumable that the Tungids, who had some contact with the Proto-Chinese, might have adopted the plank-type sled of the latter which could replace their own, which was probably a bark sled.

   1969, Asian Folklore Institute, Asian Folklore Studies, volumes 28-30, page 69