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There are a number of bugs that can find their way inside your body, entering through openings or burrowing beneath the skin. Some even lay eggs and multiply under the skin's surface. Learn more about these creatures—and how to avoid them.
There are a number of bugs that can find their way inside your body, entering through openings or burrowing beneath the skin. Some even lay eggs and multiply under the skin’s surface. Learn more about these creatures—and how to avoid them.
Bugs that burrow under human skin
There is no place like home, and for some insects, that home is you. Humans are warm, safe hosts for a variety of creatures that can burrow into your skin.
Ticks
Ticks are tiny bugs with eight legs that look similar to a spider with shorter legs and a rounder body. Part of the arachnid family, they can vary in color from brown to red to black, and their size depends on how much they have gorged themselves on their host’s blood. A tick can be as tiny as a pin head when they need to eat, to as large as marble when they have finished feasting on their host.
Ticks are attracted to people and animals, and tend to target warm, out-of-the-way places like armpits and hairy areas where they can feed without being bothered. Many times, you might not even notice a tick bite. What you might notice, though, is the growing tick as it remains attached to you during its meal.
Ticks don’t burrow completely under the skin, but parts of their head can become lodged under the skin as they feed.
They will attach to a host for up to 10 days, falling off when they are too full to cling on any longer.
Tick bites are most dangerous not from the bite itself, but from the diseasesTrusted Source ticks can transmit. These include:
anaplasmosis
babesiosis
Colorado Tick Fever
ehrlichiosis
lyme disease
Powassan disease
rickettsiosis, such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Southern tick-associated rash illness
tickborne relapsing fever
tularemia
SymptomsTrusted Source of a tick bite or tick-borne infection may include:
itching
rash, possibly with a bullseye pattern
fever
chills
headache
fatigue
muscle pain
joint pain
skin ulcers
swollen lymph glands
Ticks live throughout the United States. Different regions have different speciesTrusted Source, too. Wooded areas are a haven for ticks. If you develop an infection or reaction to a tick bite, you may need antibiotics. Treatment of other tickborne illnesses can vary. If you find a tick, take care in removing itTrusted Source so that you don’t leave a part of it behind. See a doctor if you develop a rash, fever, or other lasting symptoms after finding a tick on your skin.
Prevention is key when it comes to ticks. Inspect your pet and your own skin after spending time outdoors, use tick repellents, and wear protective clothing.
Human itch mite
The human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis) is a microscopic bug that is one of the few to actually burrow and live beneath human skin. Adult female itch mites burrow under the top layer of skin, where they can continue to live and lay eggs for weeks undetected. They aren’t spread by animals, but by skin-to-skin contact with other infested people or by the skin coming in contact with dirt that infested animals — specifically livestock — come in contact with.
Adult mites are tiny sac-like creatures measuring less than a half-millimeter and can’t usually be seen with the naked eye.
What you can see is tiny raised tunnels in the skin from the burrowing mites, or redness from scabies—the disease eventually caused by these mites.
Symptoms can appear days or weeks after infestation begins, and usually begin with itching and a skin rash. They can become severe, with infested people developing raised bumps and even bacterial skin infections from the open sores left by scratching.
Scabies rashes are most often found in skin creases, between fingers, in elbows and armpits, and along the neck or groin. A doctor can usually diagnose a scabies infestation by seeing the rash, but they may also take a skin scraping or extract one of the mites from your skin for confirmation.
Prescription topical medications, strict cleaning, and isolation as the infestation clears are the best remedies for scabies.
Chigoe fleas
The chigoe flea (Tunga penetrans) goes by several names like:
chigoe flea
jigger
sand flea
nigua
pico
pique
chica
suthi
Native to Central and South America, chigoe fleas are about 1 millimeter and live below dirt and sand in tropical areas.
Both males and females bite humans and animals, but only pregnant females go beneath the skin’s surface. After mating, female chigoe fleas attach to your skin with their mouth, then claw into your skin. They feed and nurture up to 100 eggs beneath the skin’s surface for about 2 weeks, growing to about 1 centimeter before being sloughed off with dead skin cells.
They can be difficult to see, as only the female’s posterior is visible. You likely won’t notice their presence until the pregnant female grows in size.
Swelling, itching, and irritation follow, and you can develop ulcers and bacterial infections at the site. The infection that comes from these bugs is called tungiasis, and can cause problems walking or lead more serious infections like tetanus and gangrene.
The initial burrowing is usually painless. Symptoms, including itching and irritation, usually start to develop as the females become fully developed into the engorged state. Inflammation and ulceration may become severe, and multiple lesions in the feet can lead to difficulty in walking.
Secondary bacterial infections, including tetanus and gangrene, are not uncommon with tungiasis.
Screwworm
These parasitic flies are sometimes called:
tumbu flies
mango flies
maggot flies
bot flies
They are native to tropic areas around Africa. Adults live on their own, but lay eggs on human or animal skin, gluing them to the surface with a sticky substance or inserting them directly into wounds or open areas of flesh. As the larvae develop and grow, they burrow into their host’s tissue, living there for up to 10 weeks. As they grow into adults, they resemble small flies and drop to the ground, leaving the host to start its adult cycle.
Infestation by these flies is called myiasis and is detected as a lump under the surface of the skin. Larvae can be seen moving under the skin surface in some cases. The lump can become irritated and infected, and requires medical care.
These flies eat the tissue surrounding them as they grow, and infestations must be surgically removed. Additional treatment depends on the extent of tissue damage the larvae caused.
Medically reviewed by Cynthia Taylor Chavoustie, MPAS, PA-C
Written by Rachael Zimlich, RN, BSN
April 1, 2021
