134 DOG AND CAT-B'LEA 



These dark chestnut-brown fleas (fig. Ill) are stouter 

 and thicker in the thoracic region than those infesting man, 

 which are darker and have a more slender waist. A row of 

 sharp spines is found on the lower margin of the head, and 

 another one on the posterior edge of the first segment of the 

 thorax; both sets of spines are absent in the human flea. 



The female flea deposits her eggs among the fur; as these 

 very small, white, elongated eggs (fig. 112, «) are butslightly 



attached to the hair they drop 

 oif quite readily and are thus 

 scattered; they can be easily 

 found wherever infested cats or 

 dogs sleep. The young larvae 

 hatch in a few^ days, according 

 Fig 112 -Dog and cat-flea; a ^^ ^j^g scason; they havc a pale 



egg; b, larva. Greatly enlarged. ' ^ ^ 



Original. vcllow head and are furnished, 



like the larvae of other fleas, with two spines on the last 

 segment of the body, and wnth verjdong hair along the sides. 

 The footless larvae (fig. 112, J) move by means of these spines 

 and hairs. The pupa, which resembles more the adult stage 

 than the larval one, has free legs. As soon as the adult flea 

 is born, it attacks the first living animal to obtain blood. 

 As the larvae can exist iipon all sorts of dead organic matter 

 they even hatch from eggs dropped by dogs or cats in gar- 

 dens, and these can reach maturity in such places. Such fleas 

 are called "sand-fleas", but the^^ are simply the offspring of 

 cat or dog-fleas. 



Fleas pass the winter in all stages; in fact they are al- 

 ways active and the females seem to drop eggs quite fre- 

 quently, even during the coldest season, hence many must 

 perish. During the late cold spell (Nov. 1896) the female 

 fleas taken from a rabbit dropped their eggs quite readily, 

 but as it is not likely thatthe}^ would do so if these would or 

 could not hatch, the eggs, perhaps, do not develop until 

 spring. As fleas increase so rapidly in numbers there may 

 be a number of broods during a year. 



The dog-flea w^as at one time considered to be diflerent 

 from the cat-flea, but it is so very similar, and the diflerences 

 in the mouth-parts and proportions of the posterior tarsi 



