On the whole, "Tunga penetrans" does not do very well in terms of its Darwinian fitness. In a laboratory setting in which different mediums were provided for larval growth, the rate of survival from egg to adult in the best medium was 1.05%. Only 15% of the eggs were found to develop into larvae, and of those, only 14% formed a cocoon. Moreover, only half of the pupae reached the adult phase, resulting in gender disequilibrium. Although these results reflect a laboratory setting, the general lack of success for "T. penetrans"’s reproductive (opportunistic) R-strategy is surprising given the number of fleas that a single person can attract. The low survival rate suggests that a concentrated public health effort directed "at any point" in the flea’s life cycle is likely to deal a crippling blow to the overall population of the flea in the area.