86 



THE HOUSE FLY AND ITS ALLIES. 



98. Flea, magnified. 



early stages of Mycetophila, one of the Tipulid family. In its 

 adult condition the flea combines the characters of the Diptera, 

 with certain features of the grasshoppers and cockroaches, and 

 the bugs. The body of the flea (Fig. 98, greatly magnified ; a, 

 antennae; b, maxilla), and their palpi, c; d, mandibles; the lat- 

 ter, with the labium, which is not shown in the figure, forming 



the acute 

 beak) is 

 much com- 

 pressed, 

 and there 

 are minute 

 whig -pads, 

 instead of 

 wings, pre- 

 sent in 

 some spe- 

 cies. 



Dr. G. A. 

 Perkins, of 



Salem, has succeeded in rearing in considerable numbei-s from 

 the eggs, the larvaj of this flea. The larviB (Fig. 9'J, much 

 enlarged; «, antenna; 6, the terminal segments of the abdo- 

 men), when hatched, are half a line in 

 length. The body is long, cylindrical, and 

 pure white, with thirteen segments exclu- 

 sive of the head, and provided with rather 

 long hairs. It is very active in its move- 

 ments, and lives on blood clots, remaining 

 on unswept floors of out-houses, or in 

 the straw or bed of the anhnals they 

 infest. In six days after the eggs are 

 laid the larva) appeal-, and in a few days 

 after leaving the c^i^ they mature, spin a 

 rude cocoon, and change to pupa), and the 

 perfect insects appear in about ten days. 

 A good autliority states that the human flea does not exist in 

 America. We never saw a specimen in this country. 



A practical point is how to rid dogs of fleas. As a preventive 

 measure, we would suggest the frequent sweeping and cleansing 

 of the floors of their kennels, and renewing the straw or chips 



90. Larva of Flea. 



