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The human flea (Pulex irritans) – once also called the house flea [1] – is a cosmopolitan flea species that has, in spite of the common name, a wide host spectrum. It is one of six species in the genus Pulex ; the other five are all confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical realms . [ 2 ]
The earliest known fleas lived in the Middle Jurassic; modern-looking forms appeared in the Cenozoic. Fleas probably originated on mammals first and expanded their reach to birds. Each species of flea specializes, more or less, on one species of host: many species of flea never breed on any other host; some are less selective.
There are more than 2,000 species of tiny (0.04 to 0.15 inches), wingless, blood-sucking fleas that live on the body of the host they infest. Although fleas cannot fly, they have developed ...
The bluish-green glow is attributed to luciferin, which emits light after oxidation catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase. Some believe that the light attracts insects to spread spores, or acts as a warning to hungry animals, like the bright colors exhibited by some poisonous or unpalatable animal species. [ 2 ]
Tunga penetrans is a species of flea also known as the jigger, jigger flea, chigoe, chigo, chigoe flea, chigo flea, nigua, sand flea, or burrowing flea. It is a parasitic insect found in most tropical and sub-tropical climates. In its parasitic phase it has significant impact on its hosts, which include humans and certain other mammalian species.
This may attract night-flying insects and aid in spore dispersal, but other functions may also be involved. [49] Quantula striata is the only known bioluminescent terrestrial mollusk. Pulses of light are emitted from a gland near the front of the foot and may have a communicative function, although the adaptive significance is not fully ...
Humans become infested by Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis; [1] other mammals can be infested with different varieties of the mite. They include wild and domesticated dogs and cats (in which it is one cause of mange), ungulates, wild boars, bovids, wombats, [2] koalas, and great apes. [3] Human scabies mite seen under an optical microscope (x20)
Cat fleas originated in Africa [4] but can now be found globally. [5] As humans began domesticating cats, the prevalence of the cat flea increased and it spread throughout the world. Of the cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis is the most common, although other subspecies do exist, including C. felis strongylus, C. orientis, and C. damarensis ...