Please see the entries for Flea, Tunga penetrans ..read more

Unlike other fleas, Tunga penetrans, otherwise known as the chigoe flea, is capable of embedding into human skin. Both male and female T. penetrans are capable of feeding intermittentely on their host, but only mated females embed. Females remain in the skin while gravid and eventually die, releasing eggs into the environment ..read more

Tsetse flies (genus Glossina) are large biting flies found in Africa that transmit the agents of African Sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. They also transmit animal trypanosomes. They can distinguished from other large flies by two features; they fold their wings completely when they are resting so that the wings overlap over their abdomens, and they have a long proboscis which extends directly forward and is attached by a distinct bulb to the bottom of their heads. Also, their wings have a large distinctive ..read more

Rat-tailed maggots, otherwise known as hoverfly larvae, may be found in stagnant water, and occasionally, in toilet bowels. In the latter scenario, they may be mistaken for human parasites and submitted to the microbiology laboratory for identification. They can be differentiated from myiasis-causing fly larvae by their long respiratory siphon located at their posterior end ..read more

Adults of Paragonimus species are described as "coffee bean" shaped, measuring approximately 1 cm in length. As with most other human parasitic flukes, they are hermaphrodites and have oral and ventral suckers ..read more

A variety of mushroom spores may be found in stool and superficially resemble parasite eggs such as those of Enterobius vermicularis.  The spores shown here are from morel mushrooms. They are smaller than E. vermicularis eggs and are not flattened on one side ..read more

A wide variety of parasite mimics can be found in human specimens, including food matter, mucus casts, free-living insects, and mushroom spores. Check out the following entries for more information and photographs of examples: Banana materia Mushroom spores Onion skin ..read more

Sections of onion skin as shown here superficially resemble a length of tapeworm proglottids. They can be differentiated from proglottids by their lack of the expected internal structures.  ..read more

The images below show banana material; a parasite mimic commonly found in stool specimens. These structures are NOT actually banana seeds as is commonly taught in parasitology texts. Instead, they are polymerized tannins associated with xylem strands. The Cavendish bananas that are most often sold in grocery stores do not actually develop seeds. They are naturally sterile (triploid) and can only be propagated vegetatively. However, each aborted ovum has a vascular network consisting of xylem strands and associated cells containing astringent tannins. Upon ripening, the tannins polymerize ..read more

Entamoeba polecki is a non-pathogenic ameba associated with pigs. The cysts measure 9 to 25 µm and have a large nucleus comprising up to 1/3 of the diameter of the cyst. Cysts are usually uninucleate, but may rarely be binucleate. They have the typical "Entamoeba-type" nucleus and chromatin pattern ('dot and ring'), with a small to large karyosome (central or eccentric location) and light-to-heavy peripheral chromatin. One of the most notable features of the cyst is the presence of numerous variably-sized chromatoid bodies, which may be small to large and have round or spli ..read more