Ctenocephalides felis
| Cat Flea | |
|---|---|
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| Female cat flea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Siphonaptera |
| Family: | Pulicidae |
| Genus: | Ctenocephalides |
| Species: | C. felis |
| Binomial name | |
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Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1835) |
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The cat flea (scientific name Ctenocephalides felis) is an extremely common parasitic insect whose principal host is the domestic cat, although a high proportion of the fleas found on dogs also belong to this species (this despite the widespread existence of a separate and well-established "dog" flea, Ctenocephalides canis).
The cat flea belongs to the insect order Siphonaptera (Ancient Greek siphono- "tube" or "siphon" + a "not" + ptera "wing", the tube-drinking wingless insects) which in its adult stage is an obligatory hematophage. Adults of both sexes range from 1–2 mm long and are usually a reddish-brown colour, although the abdomens of gravid females often swell with eggs causing them to appear banded in cream and dark brown. Like all fleas, the cat flea is compressed laterally allowing it to slip between the sometimes dense hairs of its host just above the top layer of the skin, resulting in an extremely thin insect that may be difficult to observe even if the host's coat is pure white.
The cat flea affects both the cat and the dog worldwide. The cat flea can also maintain its life cycle on other carnivores and on omnivores, but these are only chosen when more acceptable hosts become unavailable. Adult cat fleas do not willingly leave their hosts, and inter-animal transfer of adult fleas is rare except in animals that share sleeping quarters. A flea which becomes separated from its host will often die within hours from starvation.
Fleas go through four life cycle stages of egg, larva, pupa, and imago (adult). Adult fleas must feed on blood before they can become capable of reproduction.
Flea populations are distributed with about 50% eggs, 35% larvae, 10% pupae, and 5% adults.
An adult gravid female flea that has consumed a full blood meal will begin to produce between 20 and 30 microscopic (0.5 mm) non-adhesive white ovoid eggs per day, laying them individually and continually at a rate of about one per hour until she dies (under ideal conditions it might be possible for her to produce between 2,000 and 8,000 eggs in her lifetime, though most only manage to produce around 100 before being consumed by their host during grooming activity). The eggs are dispersed freely into the environment. Within two to seven weeks a certain proportion will then hatch into larvae.
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Wikipedia