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[I have been disowned by one of my sisters for sending her the following]

Well, last Thursday when the power was out in the neighborhood, I slept in the camper, as it was much cooler there than inside my house. The next evening I noticed a small, painful lump under my right arm. Today I went to the Doctor's office to see what it was.

The Chrysalis Parasitic Wasp lays its eggs in the living flesh of a mammal (usually cattle, but can be domestic pets or even humans). The wasp first "stings" the host with a natural local anesthetic, and then injects up to 200 tiny eggs under the skin. Shortly after laying the eggs, the wasp dies.

Within 24 hours, the host develops a small, painful lump at the site of the eggs. This lump will grow during the incubation period to be anywhere from marble to golf ball sized. Left alone, the eggs mature into larvae in about 2 weeks and feed on the living flesh of their host until they erupt and drop to the ground, there to "chrysalize" for another 2 weeks before emerging as the adult insect. To small host mammals, this is usually fatal. Larger hosts lose a baseball-to-softball sized measure of flesh, but usually heal with only scar tissue remaining.

Removal of the eggs is nearly impossible without seriously endangering the host, as destruction of the egg sac can allow the larvae to enter the blood stream, where they will then erupt in and through vital organs. Treatment usually consists of either removal of the affected area including about a golfball-sized area around the sac to ensure complete removal, or treatment of the area with antibiotics and skin grafts after the larvae exit the host.

Fortunately, I have a clogged sweat gland that requires no immediate treatment.

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