FLEAS
By Dr. Mukoko Dunstan
Classification
Class: - Insecta
Order: - Siphonaptera
Scientific name: Siphonaptera – from Greek
words- sphon: - tube-like sucking mouth,
and aptera: - wingless.
Common name:- Flea
FLEAS (Siphonaptera)
◦ There are about 2500 species and sub-
species of fleas
◦ Belong to about 220 genera
◦ Only a few are important pests of man
◦ 94% of the known species bite mammals
the remainder biting birds
◦ Fleas are generally distributed through out
most of the world
◦ But a few have restricted distribution e.g.
the plague flea in the tropics
External Morphology
Adults are relatively small 1-4mm
More or less oval insects
Compressed laterally
Vary in colour from light to dark brown
Have no wings
Three pairs of powerfully developed legs,
with hind pair specialized for jumping
Legs and most of body covered by bristles
and body spines
Flea
External Morphology cont..
Head
Roughly triangular in shape
Bears a pair of conspicuous eyes
Also carries a pair of short three-segmented
antennae -lie in depressions behind the eyes
Mouth parts pointed downwards
In some species the head also has a row of
coarse, well developed tooth-like spines -
the genal comb
External Morphology cont..
Thorax
Has three distinct segments
◦ Prothorax
◦ Mesothorax
◦ Metathorax
Posterior margin of the pronotum may bear
the pronotal comb
Above the middle pair of legs is located a
sternite called the mesosternum
External Morphology cont..
The mesosternum in some species is divided
into two parts by the mural rod
These structures: the genal comb, the pronotal
comb and the mural rod are used in
classification of the flea species
◦ E.g. the presence of a mural rod and, combined with
the absence of both the genal and pronotal combs,
indicates the genus Xenopsylla
Females have a distinct brownish spermatheca
in the position of 6th - 8th abdominal segment
The alimentary canal
Has spindle-shaped pharynx - through which
sucked blood passes
Pharynx is linked to a thin oesophagus
The proventriculus is bulbous and provided
internally with numerous backwardly projecting
stiff spines (important in mechanism of plague
transmission)
Has relatively large stomach (mid gut)
Distal end of the stomach is connected to the
hind gut
Hind gut continuous with a small dilated
rectum
The alimentary canal of a flea
Life cycle
Both males and females take blood-meals
Females lay eggs in debris, cracks or
crevices around the host's environment
May lay up to 300-1000 eggs in small
batches of 3-18 a day
Egg hatch within 2-14 days
Minute legless larvae emerge from the eggs
Life cycle of a flea
Life cycle cont…
Larva
With a small blackish head with very small pair of
antennae
13 distinct but similar segments
The segments end up in a pair of finger-like
ventral processes- the anal struts
Larvae very active and avoid light
Feed on any organic debris including the host's
faeces
In some species the larvae are scavengers- feed
on any dead insects
Undergo three larval instars
Life cycle cont…
Larval period may last 10 -21 days but may
be prolonged to more than 200 days in
unfavorable conditions
At end of larval period the larva spins a
whitish cocoon around itself
Cocoon made from silk produced by the
larva's salivary glands
Cocoon is sticky and is soon covered by fine
particles of dust and organic debris
Larva pupates within the cocoon
Life cycle cont…
The pupa
Pupal stage lasts 7-14 days in optimal
conditions
Adult emerges from the pupa on
stimulation by vibrations caused by
movement of host
the life cycle from egg to adult emergence
may take as short as 2-3 weeks under
optimal conditions
But may be considerably longer - up to 20
months
Medical importance
1. Murine typhus
Caused by Reckettsia mooseri
Parasite infects man when the infected flea
faeces are scratched into the skin abrasions
Medical importance cont…
2. Plague
Caused by the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis
Transmitted by Xenopsylla cheopis
Bacillus taken up by the flea when feeding on
infected person or rodent
The bacteria reach the proventriculus and the
fore gut
Multiplies enormously and blocks the
proventriculus
Flea gets problem in feeding
Plague cont…
When it tries to feed the muscular pressure
pushes some of the bacilli into the incoming
blood-meal which is eventually regurgitated
into new host - causing infection
Flea with blocked proventriculus becomes
starved and repeatedly bites in attempt to
get a blood - meal in the process infecting
many new individuals
Silvatic plague transmission
Plague is usually a disease of wild rodents
Circulates within the wild rodents
Kills and reduces number of rodents
When the population of wild rodents is
reduced fleas take on the domestic rodents
visiting the peri-domestic silvatic
environment
Plague transmission cont…
Domestic rodents bring the fleas and
infection in the domestic environment
Domestic rodents get depleted very fast
In the domestic environment the fleas move
to man as the next host
This ends up in a plague outbreak in the
human population
TUNGA PENETRANS
Tunga penetrans (the jigger flea)is found in
the tropics and sub-tropics
Some times referred to as the chigoe flea
Does not transmit disease to man but it is a
nuisance because the females burrow into
the skin
Adults of both sexes are very small - about
1mm long
Have very compressed thoracic segments
and very weak legs
Life cycle
Egg are dropped onto the floors of houses
Hatch within 3-4 days
Larvae inhabit dirty and dusty floors
Larval development completed within 10-14
days in favorable conditions
Pupal period 5-14 days
Complete life cycle in as short as 18 days
Life cycle cont..
Adult
Adults - newly emerged are very agile
Jump and crawl around until they locate a
suitable host -mainly man
Both sexes feed on blood
Male leaves host after the blood-meal
Female after being fertilized burrows into the
skin
Soft parts of the skin
Life cycle cont..
Burrows whole body except for the tip of
abdomen bearing the anus, the genital
opening and the large respiratory spiracles
Continues to feed in the embedded position
The abdomen distends with developing
eggs, and acquires enormous size
On maturity 150-200 egg are passed out of
the female genital opening, falling to the
ground
The jigger flea
Adult male Tunga
penetrans
Jigger flea being
removed from a toe
Adult Tunga penetrans flea
a) Non-gravid female
flea (Tunga
penetrans)
b) Gravid female with
abdomen full of eggs
Control of fleas
Only a very small fraction of the flea
population will be found on the host
The rest including the eggs larvae and pupae
in cocoons will be in the hosts environment
It is thus more effective to treat the whole
environment including
◦ Beds
◦ Kennels
◦ Rodent burrows
◦ Rodent paths (runways)
◦ House floors
Control of fleas cont…
These areas should be treated with either
insecticidal powders or lightly sprayed with
solutions of :
◦ 0.5% HCH
◦ 2% Malathion
◦ 0.5% Diazinon
◦ 2% Dichlorvos (DDVP)
Control of fleas cont…
Insecticidal powders for flea control include:
◦ 5-10% DDT
◦ 1% HCH
◦ 0.5% Dieldrin
These liberally applied to the floors of
houses and rodent runways
