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; 6, maxillae, 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 

 wing -pads, 

 instead of 

 wings, pre- 

 s e n t in 

 some spe 

 cies. 



Dr. G. A. 

 Perkins, of 



Salem, has succeeded in rearing in considerable numbers from 

 the eggs, the larva? of this flea. The larvae (Fig. 99, 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 animals they 

 infest. In six days after the eggs are 

 laid the larva) appear, and in a few days 

 after leaving the egg they mature, spin a 

 rude cocoon, and change to pupae, and the 

 perfect insects appear in about ten days. 

 A good authority 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 clogs 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 



99. Larva of Flea. 



