THE INSECT WORLD. 



329 



or summer, 4;he larvae finding food in any dust or dirt near by. 

 The spaces between the boards of floors are often filled with them, 

 and a little pile of moist sawdust or shavings may harbor 

 myriads. This led to a quite wide-spread and at one time popu- 

 lar belief that under such circumstances the insects were sponta- 

 neously generated. The period of development is very brief, 

 and under favorable conditions a building may swarm with fleas 

 in a month or two. No species of flea specifically infests man 

 in this country, though the Ceratopsylhis serraticeps oi the house- 

 hold dog and cat often bothers him a little. In tropical and 

 subtropical countries several species attack him as readily as 

 they do any other warm-blooded animal. 



Where a house becomes infested, the dogs or cats, if any, 

 should be washed with carbolic soap every other day to kill the 

 adults on them, and if the animals be allowed to run throughout 

 the house they will in a few days attract all the fleas to them- 

 selves, where they can be dealt with. The sleeping rugs of the 

 animals should be thoroughly beaten or shaken out-doors every 

 day, and the most rigid cleanliness should be everywhere 

 observed. 



Where dogs or cats are not available as traps, a liberal applica- 

 tion of gasoline, following a thorough cleaning up, is the best 

 remedy. It should be poured into every crevice in the floor and 

 along the base-boards, and it will kill every larva and adult with 

 which it comes into contact. The liquid is exceedingly inflam- 

 mable, and must be used with that fact borne in mind. Pet 

 animals can be cleaned by a free and frequent use qf carbolated 

 .soaps or vaseline. 



In hot countries fleas are often serious pests, not only to man 

 and his pets, but to fowls as well, young chickens being fre- 

 quently killed by the great numbers clustering around their 

 heads. Here the free use of carbolated vaseline is indicated to 

 keep off" the insects and to act as an effective healing agent. 

 Cleanliness in its strictest form in the coops and houses is always 

 indicated. 



Rather more serious pe.sts are the so-called "jigger" fleas, 

 species oi Sarcopsyl/a, or Vcrmipsylla, the females of which work 

 their way under the skin, often of the feet of man, causing an ul- 

 ceration in which the eggs and larvae develop. If the case is 



