Leptotrombidium deliense
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Authors: Yan Lv et al.
Source: Korean Journal of Parasitology 2018; 56(4): 313-324
Leptotrombidium deliense Walch
This chigger mite is found in southern Asia and in parts of Australia. It is a vector of the important scrub typhus agent Orientia tsutsugamushi, an obligate intracellular bacterium causing a potentially fatal febrile illness. The hosts of the mite are usually small mammals like rats or bandicoots, but it can also sting humans.
Only the larval stage of L. deliense is parasitic. After emerging from the egg in the soil, the larva climbs up a grass leaf and waits for a host. Once it has managed to attach itself to a host, it stings the host and sucks its lymph fluid. After 2-3 days the fully engorged larva drops off the host. The remaining part of the life cycle takes place on the soil and the mite develops through a nymphal stage into adults, feeding on organic matter. Females lay their eggs in cracks in the soil.
