Flea
Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects whose mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood.
Name: Cat Flea, Dog Flea, Rat Fleas
Size: Fleas are small (1/16 to 1/8-inch (1.5 to 3.3 mm) long), agile, usually dark colored.
Prey: Fleas attack a wide variety of warm-blooded vertebrates including dogs, cats, humans, chickens, rabbits, squirrels, rats, ferrets, birds and mice.
Danger:
Fleas are a nuisance to their hosts, causing an itching sensation which in turn may result in the host attempting to remove the pest by biting, pecking, scratching, etc. the vicinity of the parasite. Some people and animals suffer allergic reactions to flea saliva resulting in rashes. Flea bites generally result in the formation of a slightly-raised swollen itching spot with a single puncture point at the center. Fleas can also lead to hair loss as a result of frequent scratching and biting by the animal, and can cause anemia in extreme cases.
Some Links to information about fleas:
- Fleas, National Pesticide Information Center.
Photo Credits:
Flea - Janice Carr, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Public Domain).The information on this page was taken from Wikipedia under a GNU Free Documentation License unless otherwise noted.