filari- (Latin: thread).

From the family, Filarioidea, a superfamily or order of nematode parasites, the adults being threadlike worms which invade the tissues and body cavities where the female deposits embryonated eggs [prelarvae] known as microfilariae. These microfilariae are ingested by blood-sucking insects in whom they pass their developmental stage and are returned to a human by the bites of such insects.