Species group · Insects
WAnimals has 2 species of flea, in the family Pulicidae.
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 2.
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
It jumps more than a hundred times its own length thanks to a block of resilin, an elastic protein that stores energy like a spring and releases it all at once.
From Cat Flea
Only a tiny fraction of the population is on the animal: the eggs, larvae and pupae build up in carpets, beds and cracks in the floor, which is why treating the pet alone never clears an infestation.
From Cat Flea
It transmits the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum and the bacterium that causes cat scratch disease.
From Cat Flea
Its role in the great plague epidemics has been debated for decades: the models that best reproduce the speed at which the Black Death spread across Europe implicate human fleas and lice, and not the rat flea alone.
From Human Flea
It was the star of the flea circuses of the nineteenth century, harnessed to tiny carts and wheels to exploit its extraordinary strength.
From Human Flea
Its decline in western Europe is down to the spread of hard flooring, the vacuum cleaner and frequent washing of bedding.
From Human Flea