FLEAS AND THEIR CONTROL. 



rage. 



Life history and habits 3 



Length of life of the adult 5 



Abundance of fleas, with relation to season, 



climate, and other conditions 5 



Fleas as pests in the household 



Fleas injurious to poultry and domestic ani- 

 mals 7 



The sticktight flea 7 



Dog and cat fleas 8 



The relation of fleas to bubonic plague 9 



Page. 



Means of repression 13 



Remedies for household infestations 13 



How to kill fleas on cats, dogs, and hogs. . 10 



Control of hosts u 



How to destroy fleas in immature stages. U 



Trapping fleas 13 



Isolating and repelling 13 



Methods of controlling the sticktight or 



chicken flea 14 



Treatment of Ueabites 15 



FLEAS AFFECT US IN TWO WAYS: First, as disease 

 carriers, and, second, as parasites or annoyers of man and 

 animals. The dread bubonic plague has been foimd to be trans- 

 mitted largel3% if not entirely, through the agency of these insects. 

 A disease known as infantile kala azar, occurring in the countries 

 bordering the Mediterranean Sea, is probably also transmitted by 

 them, and a species of tapeworm which infests dogs and occasionally 

 people has been found to pass at least one stage in the dog flea and 

 then to gain entrance to a new host by the swallowing of crushed 

 or living fleas. The present M-ar, with its movement of vast bodies 

 of troops between various parts of the world, has its attendant 

 danger of spreading disease, and it is probable that the dangers 

 along this line will be multiplied when peace is reestablished, owing 

 to extensive immigration and the unsettled conditions that Avill pre- 

 A^ail in various countries. 



Aside from the transmission of disea.ses fleas are of considerable 

 importance as parasites of man and animals. In many instances they 

 have been known to render houses uninhabitable for a time, and cer- 

 tain species cause considerable loss among poultry as well as an- 

 noyance to other animals. 



LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 



Fleas are of many kinds. Most of them, however, are of no im- 

 portance to man, as they feed on various wild birds and inaiumals. 

 Nearly all species have some one host upon which they prefer to live, 

 but they may feed upon other animals and often thrive upon them. 

 For example, the dog flea (fig. 1)* normally feeds on dogs and cats, 



1 The fleas mentioned in this bulletin are known scientifically as follows : Dog flea, 

 Ctenocephalus canis Cutris ; cat flea, Ctenocephalus felis Bouch^ ; humnn flea. Piilrx irrl- 

 tans L. ; rat fleas, Xenopsylla cheopis Roth, (the Indian rat flea), Ceratophyllua fasciatua 

 Bosc. (the European rat flea), and others; chigoe, Dermatophilus penetrans L. ; sticktight 

 or chicken flea, Echidnophaga pallinaccua Westw. 



10912°— Bull. 897—17 3 



