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CONTROL FLEAS 



Leaflet No.152 



U.S. DEPARTMENT 

 OF AGRICULTURE 



By F. C. Bishopp, -principal entomologist, in charge, Division of Insects Affecting 

 Man and Animals, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine 



Fleas are troublesome pests of man and domestic animals, and 

 certain species that infest rats and other animals carry a number of 

 serious diseases of man, such as bubonic plague and endemic typhus, 

 or act as hosts for internal parasites. 



Kinds and Habits of Fleas 



There are many different kinds of fleas, but most of them have 

 somewhat similar habits. Some confine their attacks to certain kinds 

 of birds or animals, while others 

 will suck blood from almost any 

 warm-blooded animal. There 

 are three kinds of fleas that com- 

 monly become serious pests of 

 man in this country. These are 

 the dog flea (Ctenocephalides 

 canis (Curtis)) the cat flea (C. 

 felis (Bouche)) (fig. 1), and the 

 human flea (Pulex irritans L.) 

 (fig. 2) . In the South the stick- 

 tight flea (Echidnophaga gal- 

 linacea (Westw.)) (fig. 3) infests 

 poultry and occasionally annoys 

 man. The dog and cat fleas are 

 very similar in appearance, and 

 they feed interchangeably on 

 dogs and cats. These are the 

 fleas that are responsible for 

 house invasions in the Eastern States. The human flea may live on 

 many different animals. Often it is associated with hogs and breeds 

 in the litter in hog houses. It also lives on dogs and cats and on 

 wild animals, such as coyotes, badgers, and skunks. This is the flea 

 most frequently found annoying man in the Mississippi Valley, in 

 Texas, and westward to the Pacific coast. 



All fleas require the blood of birds or animals in order to reproduce. 

 There is no true "sand flea" breeding in the sand without animals 

 upon which to feed. 



Washington. D. C. Issued November 1937 



Figure 1.— Cat flea (female), greatly enlarged. 



327680°— 41 



(1) 



Revised August 1941 



