Order SIPHONAPTERA. 



Contains the fleas which are considered as flies, modified to suit a 

 parasitic mode of life. They are usually brown in color, transversely 

 flattened, the edges of the segments set with stiff spines directed back- 

 ward, and the hind legs enormously developed for leaping. They drop 

 their eggs in the sleeping quarters of their host, and from these come 

 slender, white, worm-like larvae. These feed on refuse animal or vege- 

 table debris and the pupse hide in crevices, or in houses between the 

 boards of floors. 



a. 



Fig. 2.f)2. The dog flea, Ctenocephalns canis : a, egg; b, larva in cocoon; c, pupa; 

 d, adult; e, f, g, details of mouth and antennal structure; all enlarged. 



Sometimes a house becomes overrun with fleas, and in such cases the 

 sleeping place of the dog or cat must first be thoroughly cleaned, so as 

 to destroy the source of the trouble. All the adult fleas will get upon the 

 dog or cat at the first opportunity, and these pets, therefore, can be used 

 as traps, then washed with carbolic soap at short intervals until all the 

 fleas have been captured and destroyed. A free use of gasoline in the 

 crevices of the floor will kill all larvae and pupae that may be there, and 

 will at once check breeding. 



No systematic collections have been made in New Jersey. I have taken 

 fleas from moles, rabbits, muskrats, and have seen them in quantities in 

 nests of field mice. They also occur on rats and on almost every other 

 hairy animal in the State, but no effort has yet been made to determine 

 the species. 



Those listed here occur practically everywhere. The names are from 

 the list published by C. F. Baker in 1904, and it is remarkable that at that 



