XXIX. Observations on the bionomics of fleas with special reference to P. cheopis

Abstract

Fleas (Aphaniptera, Siphonaptera) are wingless insects which run or hop about. They are for the most part parasitic in their habits, being found only on the homoiothermic vertebrates, especially on those which build nests or have more or less fixed haunts or homes. Like the majority of other parasites they have the body flattened, but differ from most parasitic insects in that this flattening is in a lateral direction, so that the transverse diameter of the body is small and the vertical diameter great. Attention has already been drawn to certain other morphological peculiarities of these insects (vol. VII. p. 446).