880 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



To rid a dog or cat of fleas Persian insect powder should be carefully 

 rubbed into its hair, or powdered naphthalene or moth balls used in 

 the same way. The animal should be treated on paper spread on the 

 floor, and the stupified fleas that come to the surface of the hair or 

 drop out collected and burned. The bedding in kennels should be of 

 some substance that can be replaced frequently, as shavings or straw, 

 and when replaced the old bedding should be burned, and the floors 

 wet with kerosene emulsion or some other insecticide that will de- 

 stroy the eggs and larvae. The animals should be kept from beneath 

 dwellings where fleas may breed rapidly, and where it is difficult to 

 reach the breeding places. 



In regions where fleas abound much relief can be obtained by the 

 use of rugs on the floors of dwellings instead of carpets. The frequent 

 shaking of the rugs and cleaning of the floors will prevent the breeding 

 of these pests within the house. As a single flea will inflict many bites, 

 it often happens that a house will seem to be overrun by them when 

 only a few are present. In such cases a careful search for and the 

 capture of the offenders will soon remedy the evil. 



People that stiffer from the attacks of these pests can also gain 

 much relief by dusting the upper part of their stockings each morning 

 with Persian insect powder, and by sprinkling a small quantity of this 

 powder between the sheets of their beds at night. 



The destruction of rats and the fleas that they harbor in a region 

 where bubonic plague exists is the most important means of preventing 

 the spread of this disease. This has been done very efficiently by the 

 United States Adarine Hospital ^Service in those cases where the plague 

 has been introduced into this country. 



Except where bubonic plague is present the bites of fleas are not 

 likely to cause serious results, although they may be very annoying. 

 The irritation caused by them can be relieved by the use of some 

 cooling application as menthol, camphor, or carbolated vaseline. 

 Scratching the bites should be avoided as that aggravates the in- 

 flammation. 



This order inr/mdes about 500 described species, and additions to 

 the list are constantly being made. A revision of the American species 

 was pubHshed by Baker ('04 and '05). Later Oudemans ('10) pub- 

 lished a new classification of the order in which he gave a table of the 

 families and genera of the world. The more striking features of the 

 classification by Oudemans are the division of the order into two 

 suborders and the proposed establishment of several new families, 

 some of which have not been adopted by other authors. In the 

 following account reference is made only to North American forms. 



The division of the order into two suborders is based on the 

 structure of the head. In the first suborder, the Fractictpita, are in- 

 cluded those fleas in which the head is jointed; the second suborder^ 

 the Integrictpita, includes those fleas in which the head is not jointed. 



dent to another by fleas; and from rodents to monkeys in the same manner. 

 It is concluded, therefore, that the disease is carried to man also by fleas. See 

 textbooks of medical entomology. 



