Flea

Flea

Fleas are the insects forming the order Siphonaptera. They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds.

Some flea species include:

  • Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
  • Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis)
  • Human flea (Pulex irritans)
  • Moorhen flea (Dasypsyllus gallinulae)
  • Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus)
  • Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)

Over 2,000 species have been described worldwide.

Read more about Flea:  Morphology and Behavior, Life Cycle and Habitat, Classification, Relationship With Host

Famous quotes containing the word flea:

    “This flea is you and I, and this
    Our mariage bed, and mariage temple is;
    Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met,
    And cloystered in these living walls of Jet.”
    —John Donne (1572–1631)