A genus of endoparasitic bloodsucking arthropods (family Linguatulidae, class Pentastomida), commonly known as tongue worms; once thought to be degenerate Acarina, but now generally considered to be a small but distinctive early offshoot of the Arthropoda. Adult worms are found in lungs or air passages of various hosts (e.g., reptiles, birds, carnivores); young worms are found in a great variety of hosts, including humans, but chiefly in animals that serve as prey. [L. linguatu, tongued, + -ula, dim. suffix]
