The pupae are sensitive to fluctuations of carbon dioxide in the environment and also to vibrations. They use these environmental cues to time their emergence from their cocoons. Fleas possess a sensory organ called a pygidium on the posterior portion of their bodies, which allows them to detect vibrations and air currents. No information is available on how these fleas communicate with one another.
Perception Channels: tactile ; vibrations ; chemical
The life cycle of Ctenocephalides felis is a holometabolous one; that is, it involves complete metamorphosis. The entire life cycle lasts from 30 to 75 days depending on environmental conditions. At 13 degrees Celsius, the larvae emerge from the eggs in 6 days. Lower temperatures and low humidity slow development. After going through three larval instars, or molts, larval fleas spin loose cocoons of silk and enter their pupal stage. The pupae are sensitive to fluctuations of carbon dioxide in the environment and also to vibration. When an appropriate change in either of these factors occurs, the adult emerges and finds a host on which to live.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
Ctenocephalides felis is of some medical and economic importance. Most prevalent, but least serious, is the allergic reactions that fleas and their feces induce in some humans and animals. Itching and redness may occur, but with no serious results. Ctencephalides felis is a vector of murine typhus in humans, caused by Rickettsia mooseri. It is also the intermediate host of the most common tapeworm that infects domestic cats and dogs, Dipylidium caninum. It has been known to carry Burrelia burgdorferi, the spirochaete that causes Lyme disease, but it does not transfer the disease. All of these conditions require medical attention. The amount of damage in dollars per year is not available, but with the numerous variety of diseases that Ctenocephalides felis carries, the additive amount is not likely to be low.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (bites or stings, carries human disease); causes or carries domestic animal disease ; household pest
Ctenocephalides felis is an obligate ectoparasite whose main hosts are cats. Cat fleas also parasitize dogs, rabbits, horses, skunks, foxes, mongooses, koalas, and poultry. Cat fleas are vectors for murine typhus and intermediate hosts of the most common tapeworm that infects cats and dogs, Dipylidium caninum. They have been known to carry Burrelia burgdorferi, the spirochaete that causes Lyme disease.
Ecosystem Impact: parasite
Species Used as Host:
After piercing the skin of the host, adult cat fleas use their mouthparts to suck up blood. The bloodmeal then passes through epithelial cells in the gut that are elongated into spines, collectively called the proventriculus, where it is broken up. As their name implies, cat fleas prefer to feed on domestic cats, Felis silvestris. Cat fleas also feed on dogs, rabbits, horses, skunks, foxes, mongooses, koalas, and poultry. They are known to bite humans in the absence of other hosts. In contrast to adult Ctenocephalides felis, larvae feed on the feces of the adult cat fleas and detritus in the environment.
Animal Foods: blood
Other Foods: detritus
Primary Diet: carnivore (Sanguivore )
Ctenocephalides felis is one of the few flea species that is truly cosmopolitan. In the United States, these fleas are ubiquitous in all areas except the mid- to north- Rocky Mountain area. Throughout the rest of the world, cat fleas are found wherever suitable hosts reside.
Other Geographic Terms: cosmopolitan
Cat fleas live in the nests and resting places of their hosts when they are not feeding, and on their hosts when they are feeding. They live in just about any type of habitat, as long as it is warm and humid enough to promote development.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: taiga ; desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural
Optimal conditions for survival of Ctenocephalides felis are described by a temperature range of 26.7 to 31.5 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity between 50 and 92 percent. Given these favorable conditions and a steady food supply, fleas can survive for two to three years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 3 (high) years.
Like all fleas, Ctenocephalides felis is laterally compressed and wingless. Cat fleas are 2 mm long and reddish-brown to black, with the females being a bit larger than males and a slightly different color. Aside from the slight difference in size and color, the other main distinguishing feature between males and females is the presence of complex, snail-shaped genitalia in males. Ctenocephalides felis is distinguished from other fleas by its characteristic ctenidia, or combs; it has a pronotal ctenidium and a genal ctenidium with more than 5 teeth. The morphology of cat fleas is similar to that of dog fleas, Ctenocephalides canis, but cat fleas have a characteristic sloping forehead. The hind tibia is also different from other flea species in that it lacks an outer apical tooth. All members of the order Siphonaptera have powerful muscles containing resilin, a highly elastic protein, in their legs, which allows these fleas to leap as high as 33 cm.
Flea larvae resemble tiny maggots with short bristles and mandibles for chewing. Pupae live encased in silky debris-studded cocoons.
Average length: 2 mm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; sexes colored or patterned differently; sexes shaped differently
No information is available on the mating system of these fleas.
Flea eggs are fertilized internally. The adult females lay their eggs on their host, but the eggs soon fall into the host's nest, where they develop. The eggs are white, translucent, and approximately 0.5 mm in length.
Breeding interval: Females lay eggs at frequent intervals while feeding, as long as the temperature and humidity are favorable
Breeding season: These fleas can breed year-round; optimal temperatures and humidity occur in the months of June, July, and August in most of the U.S.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous
Female fleas carry their eggs inside of them, providing them with nourishment until they are laid. After they are laid, there is no further investment on the part of the parents.
Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female)
Fleas have a pattern for choosing certain places to hide or lay their eggs in.
Inside a household:
Outside:
On live hosts such as cats and dogs:
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.[3] This is despite the widespread existence of a separate and well-established "dog" flea, Ctenocephalides canis. 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. [5] Over 90% of fleas found on both dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides felis felis. [3]
The cat flea belongs to the insect order Siphonaptera 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.[6] Cat fleas are wingless.[3]
The cat flea affects both the cat and the dog worldwide.[7] 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.[6] 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.[8] It has been found that mortality differs between male and female cat fleas when separated from the host. It was found that within two days all male cat fleas were dead, while females became inactive after three days.[5]
In addition to their role as pests in dogs and cats, cat fleas are responsible for a number of diseases. They can cause flea bite dermatitis and the transmission of dog tapeworm[9] to name a few.
Cat fleas are holometabolous (undergo complete metamorphosis) insects and therefore 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.[10]
Flea populations are distributed with about 50% eggs, 35% larvae, 10% pupae, and 5% adults.[11] Cat fleas may live up to two years.
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[8]). The eggs are dispersed freely into the environment. Within two to seven weeks a certain proportion will then hatch into larvae.[3] Hatching is at its highest when temperature is 27 °C and humidity is greater than 50%.[9]
Given that eggs are non-adhesive, they do not stick to the host (70% are lost from the host in the first 8 hours).[9]
The larva of the cat flea has a grub-like appearance and is ~2 mm in length. The larvae are negatively phototaxic/phototropic, avoiding light and hiding in the substrate around them. The larvae require adequate ambient moisture and warmth, and will die at temperatures near freezing.[8] Cat fleas prefer soil moisture content between 1-10%.[12] While in this developmental stage the larvae will feed on a variety of organic substances, but the most important dietary item for them is the crumbs of dried blood that continually fall like snow out of the haircoat of the host after it has been excreted by the adult fleas as fecal material. Thus, the adult flea population continually feeds the larval population in the animal's environment. Adult feces is an important part of the larval diet. When reared in the lab, flea larvae provided with adult feces have a higher survival rate (67%) than those provided diets of dried bovine blood (39%) or meat flour (55%).[13]
Flea larvae metamorphose through four stages before spinning a cocoon and entering the pupal stage. The cocoon is adhesive, and quickly acquires a coat of camouflage from surrounding dirt and dust. Pupation depends heavily on temperature and moisture, and takes a week or more to complete, though a fully pupated adult can remain inside of its cocoon in a state of semi-dormancy (called the "pupal window") awaiting signs of the presence of a host.[8][14][15][16]
Newly emerged fleas use variations in light and shadow along with increases in warmth and CO2 to detect the presence of a potential host, and will jump to a new host within seconds of emerging from the cocoon. The new flea begins feeding on host blood within minutes.[14][15][16]
A few fleas on adult dogs or cats cause little harm unless the host becomes allergic to substances in the flea's saliva. There are 15 substances that can cause allergy in flea saliva.[3] The disease that results from allergy is called flea allergy dermatitis. Small animals with large infestations can lose enough bodily fluid to fleas feeding that dehydration may result. Cat fleas also may be responsible for disease transmission through humans, and have been suspected as transmission agents of plague. Severe flea infestations can result in anemia due to blood loss.
Cat fleas can transmit other parasites and infections to dogs and cats and also to humans. The most prominent of these are Bartonella, murine typhus, and atopic dermatitis. The tapeworm Dipylidium caninum can be transmitted when an immature flea is swallowed by pets or humans. In addition, cat fleas have been found to carry Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, but their ability to transmit the disease is unclear.[17] Finally, cat fleas are vectors for Rickettsia felis.[18]
Since more than three-quarters of a flea's life is spent somewhere other than on the host animal, it is not adequate to treat only the host; it is important also to treat the host's environment. Thorough vacuuming, washing linens in hot water, and treating all hosts in the immediate environment (the entire household, for example) is essential for successful eradication. These steps should be performed on a regular basis[19] as the flea life cycle is complex. Treatment should be implemented every five to ten days.[20] Pet safe insecticides may also be an option in treating a pet with fleas, and soap is sufficient as an insecticide for adult fleas.[20]
Cat fleas have developed insecticide resistance to many of the common insecticides used to control them environmentally, including carbamates, organophosphates, and pyrethroids.[12][21] Additionally, it has been found that larvae are more resistant to certain insecticides than adults. Targets of juvenile hormone may be successful to limit growth in the larval stages. When administering insecticides to pets for flea treatment, it is critically important to finish the full dose to limit the spread of resistance.[12][21]
Cat fleas are generally tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions.[22] As the climate warms, however, it is predicted that the tropical haplotype will displace the temperate haplotype. Climate change often drives changes in species range. In Australia, it is predicted that warming temperatures will drive the cat flea distribution south.[22]
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 is despite the widespread existence of a separate and well-established "dog" flea, Ctenocephalides canis. Cat fleas originated in Africa but can now be found globally. 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. Over 90% of fleas found on both dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides felis felis.
