Ischnopsyllidae | |
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Ischnopsyllus elongatus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Siphonaptera |
Family: | Ischnopsyllidae |
Ischnopsyllidae is a family of fleas belonging to the order Siphonaptera. [1]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2021) |
Genera: [1]
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.
Arixenia esau is a species of earwig in the genus Arixenia. It is in the family Arixeniidae, a group composed solely of ectoparasitic earwigs. Like most other species in Arixeniidae, A. esau is found in the tropics of Indonesia and Malaysia and has only been collected on the island of Borneo. The species is heavily associated with its host the hairless bat and is most commonly collected from the fur of these bats and from caves inhabited by them. Arixenia esau is a rare species and has only been observed infrequently in its natural habitat.
Arixenia camura is a species of earwigs, one of two species in the genus Arixenia. Found in the hollows of trees but not in caves.
Myodopsylla insignis is a species of flea that parasitizes bats. It is found in North America, occurring as far west as Alberta and Iowa and as far east as Pennsylvania and Quebec. It feeds on bats in the genera Eptesicus, Perimyotis, and Myotis. The little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus, is considered its primary host.