Tunga monositus n. sp. is described from specimens captured in the field and others taken from a continuing laboratory colony. It has been found on the pinna of Peromyscus spp., for the most part, and Neotoma spp. in a small area on the Pacific Coast of Baja California, Mexico. The description inludes egg, larva, cocoon, pre-parasitic ♀, hypertrophied ♀, and ♂. The larva is the first known to be non-feeding in the Siphonaptera and has many correlated morphological adaptations, including rudimentary mandibles. The stages in the development of the neosome (hypertrophied ♀) and variations in its morphology are characterized. Aedeagal structure is discussed relative to postulated functions; apparently the distal sclerotized inner tube, rather than the penis rods as in most fleas, acts as the intromittent organ. A key is presented separating ♀♀ of the caecata-group of Smit, to which T. monositus belongs.
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Barnes et al. (1969) studied this question.