tontails, second only to the continental rabbit tick. 
Unlike the tick, which is generally absent in the winter, 
this flea is present on rabbits throughout the year in 
Lee County. 
The life cycle and the numbers of generations of 
this flea per year are virtually unknown. Ewing & Fox 
(1943) stated that one specimen, reared in a vial, passed 
from the larval stage into the adult stage in less than 
3 weeks in the month of April. 
In general, the common eastern rabbit flea tends 
to concentrate on the rabbit around the area of the ears. 
It occurs also on the face, top of the head, and back of 
of the neck. In rare instances, this flea was found on 
the back, and occasionally it was taken from some 
other part of a rabbit’s body. 
Although we examined rabbits during only one 
entire spring season (1953), and our results should be 
checked against other collections made in the spring 
from a greater number of rabbits, perhaps it is worth 
while to note that a springtime increase of fleas of 
this species seems to occur on rabbits, fig. 10. In 
February, 1953, the average number of these fleas per 
rabbit infested had risen above the average number 
found in the preceding summer and fall. In March of the 
same year, a sharp increase in average number per rab- 
bit occurred on the ]] rabbits examined. These fleas 
continued to be abundant during April and May on most 
of the small number of rabbits examined, table 3. For 
the entire study, the percentage of rabbits carrying 
these fleas was highest in the period beginning in No- 
vember and ending in May and lowest in midsummer, 
table 3 and fig. 10. 
Approximately 3,000 specimens of the common 
eastern rabbit flea were collected from rabbits in Lee 
Fig. 9,.—Cediopsylla simplex, adult male. In this sex, part of posterior protrudes conspicuously. 
