Bulletin 94 October, 1902 



NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 

 REMEDIES FOR FLEAS 



BY ALBERT F. CONRADI 



One of the most annoying pests of our dwelling-houses is 

 the dog flea {Pulex serraticeps). These are small reddish 

 brown creatures with a hard, smooth body covering ; the 

 sides are flattened, which enables the insects to make their 

 way through the hair of the host with great ease. Along the 

 lower side of the head and anterior portion of the body are two 

 rows of spines, from seven to nine in each row ; these spines 

 project backward in such a manner as to push forward the 

 body at every motion and are of special service in aiding the 

 little tormentors to escape when captured. The legs are fit- 

 ted for walking and jumping. They crawl through between 

 the hairs with great rapidity and can leap great distances with 

 astonishing quickness. 



It is in this adult state that the fleas are best known and 

 most troublesome. Their larvae and pupae are minute organ- 

 isms hidden among the hair, or in bedding and old cloth- 

 ing, where they gnaw the rubbish about them. 



Though the ideal breeding place of the flea is among the 

 hairs of our household pets, it is by no means confined to 

 them. One of these little intruders will inflict so many bites 

 on a single human being as to impress upon him that he is 

 infested by the pest ; the capturing and destroying of a single 

 specimen will often remedy the evil. As the mouth parts 

 are formed for piercing and sucking, the bite is especially 

 irritating. 



The fleas make their appearance with different degrees of 

 severity during the course of years, depending upon the con- 



