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Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about 3 millimetres long, are usually brown, and have bodies that are "flattened" sideways or narrow, enabling them to move through their hosts' fur or feathers. They lack wings; their hind legs are extremely well adapted for jumping. Their claws keep them from being dislodged, and their mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. They can leap 50 times their body length, a feat second only to jumps made by another group of insects, the superfamily of froghoppers. Flea larvae are worm-like, with no limbs; they have chewing mouthparts and feed on organic debris left on their hosts' skin.
The European hedgehog, also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles. It is a generally common and widely distributed species that can survive across a wide range of habitat types. It is a well-known species, and a favourite in European gardens, both for its endearing appearance and its preference for eating a range of garden pests. While populations are currently stable across much of its range, it is declining severely in Great Britain where it is now Red Listed, meaning that it is considered to be at risk of local extinction. Outside its native range, the species was introduced to New Zealand during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Oriental rat flea, also known as the tropical rat flea or the rat flea, is a parasite of rodents, primarily of the genus Rattus, and is a primary vector for bubonic plague and murine typhus. This occurs when a flea that has fed on an infected rodent bites a human, although this flea can live on any warm blooded mammal.
The cat flea is an extremely common parasitic insect whose principal host is the domestic cat, although a high proportion of the fleas found on dogs also belong to this species. This is despite the widespread existence of a separate and well-established "dog" flea, Ctenocephalides canis. Cat fleas originated in Africa but can now be found globally. As humans began domesticating cats, the prevalence of the cat flea increased and it spread throughout the world.
Delichon is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins. These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and with white or grey underparts. They have feathering on the toes and tarsi that is characteristic of this genus. The house martins are closely related to other swallows that build mud nests, particularly the Hirundo barn swallows. They breed only in Europe, Asia and the mountains of North Africa. Three species, the common, Siberian and Asian house martins, migrate south in winter, while the Nepal house martin is resident in the Himalayas year-round.
The North African hedgehog or Algerian hedgehog, is a mammal species in the family Erinaceidae native to Algeria, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Spain, and Tunisia. Little is known about this hedgehog, even though the most common breed of domesticated hedgehogs is a result of crossing a four-toed hedgehog with a North African hedgehog. Because this species of hedgehog is native to Africa, it has been suggested that it was introduced by humans to the other countries where it is now found, including Spain and the Canary Islands. Of the four African hedgehog species, the North African hedgehog is the only one of these hedgehogs that occurs outside Africa. Because the North African hedgehog has such a wide habitat range and has a seemingly stable population, both in the wild and in the domesticated capacity, it does not appear to currently be at risk.
The human flea – once also called the house flea – is a cosmopolitan flea species that has, in spite of the common name, a wide host spectrum. It is one of six species in the genus Pulex; the other five are all confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical realms. The species is thought to have originated in South America, where its original host may have been the guinea pig or peccary.
The northern white-breasted hedgehog is a species of hedgehog native to Eurasia.
Nosopsyllus fasciatus, the northern rat flea, is a species of flea found on domestic rats and house mice. Northern rat fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of rodents. N. fasciatus can bite humans, but they are more common parasites of rodents. Since they are associated with humans, they are common disease vectors that can spread from animals to humans. Diseases that can be spread through fleas include the plague and typhus. The rat flea is widespread due to their relationship to rodents and other vertebrates. They can be found co-infecting their host with other parasites.
Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes is a species of fleas in the family Hystrichopsyllidae. It is widespread in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains, and is found mainly on small mammals. In Missouri, it has been recorded on the Virginia opossum, northern short-tailed shrew, eastern mole, raccoon, eastern chipmunk, Florida woodrat, prairie vole, woodland vole, white-footed mouse, including nests, marsh rice rat, hispid cotton rat, house mouse, and brown rat. Hosts recorded in Tennessee include the Virginia opossum, northern short-tailed shrew, eastern mole, eastern chipmunk, southern red-backed vole, rock vole, woodland vole, white-footed mouse, golden mouse, hispid cotton rat, marsh rice rat, and house mouse.
Epitedia wenmanni is a species of flea in the family Hystrichopsyllidae. It is common throughout North America and associated mainly with Peromyscus (deermice), although many other hosts have been recorded. In Missouri, it has been found on the cat, white-footed mouse, including nests, marsh rice rat, and western harvest mouse. Hosts recorded in Tennessee include the northern short-tailed shrew, eastern chipmunk, southern red-backed vole, white-footed mouse, and golden mouse.
Stenoponia americana is a species of large flea in the family Hystrichopsyllidae. It is widespread in North America east of the Great Plains and is found mainly on rodents, notably deermice (Peromyscus) and voles (Microtus). In Missouri, it has been recorded on the fox squirrel, brush mouse, cotton mouse, prairie vole, woodland vole, and white-footed mouse. Hosts recorded in Tennessee include the northern short-tailed shrew, woodland vole, white-footed mouse, hispid cotton rat, marsh rice rat, and house mouse. In South Carolina, recorded hosts include the cotton mouse, hispid cotton rat, and marsh rice rat.
Dasypsyllus is a widespread genus of fleas. Some of its members are found in bird nests, including the moorhen flea, D. gallinulae.
Ixodes hexagonus, also known by the common name hedgehog tick, is a tick species in the genus Ixodes. It is a parasite of the European hedgehog.
Ceratophyllus gallinae, known as the hen flea in Europe or the European chicken flea elsewhere, is an ectoparasite of birds. This flea was first described by the German botanist and entomologist Franz von Paula Schrank in 1803.
The Pulicidae are a flea family in the order Siphonaptera. Currently, this family has 181 species in 27 genera. Of these, 16 are known from North America.
The European hedgehog was brought to New Zealand by British colonists in the 1870s as a way to deal with insect pests that had hitched a ride on crops the colonists had brought from their homeland for farming. Long regarded as a gardener’s helper in Britain, the introduction of Hedgehogs seemed a good solution to the lack of natural predators for these pests in New Zealand. They have since spread throughout the country, being absent only in inhospitable environments. The general public has a benign attitude to them in urban environments, but conservationists and regional councils regard them as pests, as they prey on native animals and compete with them for food.
The beaver beetle is an ectoparasitic beetle that is only found on its host species, beavers, and the sole member of the genus Platypsyllus. It is flattened and eyeless, resembling a flea or tick. It used to be placed in a separate family called Leptinidae, but is now placed in the family Leiodidae, in the subfamily Platypsyllinae.
Hectopsylla is a genus of fleas in the family Hectopsyllidae that parasitize non-volant mammals, birds, and bats. The genus comprises thirteen species, six of which were described in whole or part by Karl Jordan between 1906–1942. Two of the species in Hectopsylla, H. psittaci and H. pulex, go under common names, with H. psittaci identified as the sticktight flea and H. pulex identified as the chiggerflea. Hastritter and Méndez (2000) consider the genus Rhynchopsyllus a junior synonym of the genus.
References
- ↑ Boris R. Krasnov, Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of Fleas (2008), p. 558
- ↑ Entomologist's Gazette, vols. 5-6 (1954), p. 88
- ↑ Hugh Warwick, A Prickly Affair: My Life with Hedgehogs (2010), p. 28
- ↑ Black's Veterinary Dictionary (2015), p. 655
- ↑ Encyclopedia of mammals - Volume 7 (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1997), p. 979
- ↑ Roger Anthony Avery, Roy Watling, Identification of animal parasites (1974), p. 124
- ↑ John Heath, Provisional Atlas of the Insects of the British Isles: Siphonaptera, fleas (Biological Records Centre, Monks Wood Experimental Station, 1974), p. 8
- ↑ Zoon: Supplement - Volumes 1-2 (1973), p. 102
- 1 2 Regional Disease Vector Ecology Profile: Central Europe, p. 106
- ↑ Carolyn M. King, The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals (Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 112
- ↑ K. Kuhbièr, J. A. Alcover, Guerau C. d'Arellano Tur, Biogeography and Ecology of the Pityusic Islands (2012), p. 378
- ↑ K. Jordan and N. C. Rothschild, in Novitates Zoologicae 18 (1912) (Map 1)
