wheal-worm

plural wheal-worms · alternative whealworm

1. archaicAny of various insects or arachnids the bites of which produce raised sores.

   It may be ſome will think it impoſſible for theſe Wheal-worms to breed between the eyes; but we ſee it is ſo, and we finde it was done ſo formerly

   1658, Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents, London: E. Cotes for G. Sawbridge, XXIV Of little Lice called Syrones, Acari, and Tineæ, or Hand-worms, or Mites in living Creatures, page 1095

2. archaicA harvest mite, Trombicula sp.

   wheal-worm, n 1. The itch-mite acarus scabiei 2. The acarine Leptus autumnalis, or some similar harvest-bug: so named from the wheals or pimples left by its bite. See cut under harvest-mite.

   1895, William Dwight Whitney with Benjamin Eli Smith, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume 8, New York: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 6888

   Synonyms: harvest mite, chigger, red bug

3. obsoleteA mite of species Acarus autumnalis, synonym of Neotrombicula autumnalis

   ACARUS AUTUMNALIS. Harvest-bug. Mower's Mite. Wheal-worm. Rouget. The acarus autumnalis is scarcely larger than the acarus scabiei

   1865, Sir Erasmus Wilson, “Malis, or cutaneous vermination”, in On Diseases of the Skin, Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, →OCLC, page 277

   Synonyms: harvest bug, scarlet mite