Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-26T19:17:08.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sylvatic plague studies. X. Survival of rodent fleas in the laboratory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

A. L. Burroughs
A. L. Burroughs
Affiliation:
George Williams Hooper Foundation, University of California, San Francisco
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The longevity of laboratory-reared fleas, two species parasitic on domestic rats and six species parasitic on wild rodents of the sylvatic plague reservoir, was studied. The 10,795 adult fleas used in these studies were maintained at different temperatures and humidities within a range encountered in their natural habitats. Different conditions of host availability were simulated by feeding some adult fleas only once, at the beginning of an experiment, by feeding others daily, and by not feeding others at all.

Generally, a single blood meal exerted a beneficial effect on the fleas in that those fed before starvation survived a little longer than those that were never fed.

With the exception of Opisodasys nesiotus, all fleas were potentially long-lived under some of the laboratory conditions. The longest-lived fleas in all instances were those kept at high humidities (90% relative humidity or more) and fed daily. An O. nesiotus male survived for 48 days, the longest period of any of this species. The maximum longevity for each of the other species was among females and was as follows: Xenopsylla cheopis, over 5 months; Malaraeus telchinum, over 6 months; Nosopsyllus fasciatus, over 9 months; Orchopeas sexdentatus sexdentatus, 10½ months; Diamanus montanus, over 11 months; Oropsylla idahoensis, nearly 12 months; Megahothris abantis, nearly 16 months.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 43 , Issue 1-2 , May 1953 , pp. 35 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1953

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bacot, A. W. (1914). A study of the bionomics of the common rat fleas and other species associated with human habitations, with special reference to the influence of temperature and humidity at various periods of the life history of the insects. J. Hyg., Camb., Plague Suppl., 3, 447–654.Google Scholar
Brooks, R. S. J. (1917). The influence of saturation deficiency and of temperature on the course of epidemic plague. J. Hyg., Camb., Plague Suppl., 5, 881–99.Google Scholar
Burroughs, A. L. (1947). Sylvatic plague studies. The vector efficiency of nine species of fleas compared with Xenopsylla cheopis. J. Hyg., Camb., 45, 371–96.Google Scholar
Buxton, P. A. (1932). The climate in which the rat-flea lives. Indian J. Med. Res. 20, 281–97.Google Scholar
Buxton, P. A. (1938). Quantitative studies on the biology of Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera). Indian J. Med. Res. 26, 505–30.Google Scholar
Cragg, F. W. & Swaminath, C. S. (1923). Observation on the bionomics of Xenopsylla astia, Roths. Indian J. Med. Res. 10, 979–89.Google Scholar
Edney, E. B. (1945). Laboratory studies on the bionomics of the rat fleas, Xenopsylla brasiliensis Baker, and X. cheopis Roths. I. Certain effects of light, temperature and humidity on the rate of development and on adult longevity. Bull. Ent. Res. 35, 399–416.Google Scholar
Edney, E. B. (1947 a). Laboratory studies on the bionomics of the rat fleas, Xenopsylla brasiliensis Baker, and X. cheopis Roths. II. Water relations during the cocoon period. Bull. Ent. Res. 38, 263–80.Google Scholar
Edney, E. B. (1947 b). Laboratory studies on the bionomics of the rat fleas, Xenopsylla brasiliensis Baker, and X. cheopis Roths. III. Further factors affecting adult longevity. Bull. Ent. Res. 38, 389–404.Google Scholar
Evseeva, V. E. & Firsov, I. P. (1932). The suslik fleas as reservoirs of plague bacilli during the winter. Rev. microbiol., Saratov, 11, 281–83. (English summary, p. 283.)Google Scholar
Golov, D. A. & Ioff, I. G. (1925). On the question of the role of fleas of spermophiles in the epidemiology of plague. Rev. microbiol., Saratov, 4, 19–48. (French summary, pp. 131–7.)Google Scholar
Golov, D. A. & Ioff, I. G. (1926). The suslik fleas as reservoirs of plague infection during winter. Rev. microbiol., Saratov, 5, 239–48. (French summary, pp. 329–31.)Google Scholar
Goyle, A. N. (1928). Comparative experiments on the transmission of plague by fleas of the genus Xenopsylla (cheopis and astia) with a discussion on the flea-species distribution in its relation to the incidence of plague. Indian J. Med. Res. 15, 837–60.Google Scholar
Hirst, L. F. (1923). On the transmission of plague by fleas of the genus Xenopsylla. Indian J. Med. Res. 10, 789–820.Google Scholar
Hirst, L. F. (1927). Research on the parasitology of plague. Ceylon J. Sci. (D), 1, 154–267.Google Scholar
Indian Plague Commission (1908). On the seasonal prevalence of plague in India. J. Hyg., Camb., 8, 266–301.Google Scholar
Ioff, I. G. (1941). Problems in the Ecology of Fleas in Relation to their Epidemiological Importance. Pyatigorsk: Ordjhonikidze Regional Publishing House. (Tr. by Garlin, Mary H., O. S. R. D. Liaison Office, New York, 133 double-spaced typewritten pages.)Google Scholar
Leeson, H. S. (1932). The effect of temperature and humidity upon the survival of certain unfed rat fleas. Parasitology, 24, 196–209.Google Scholar
Leeson, H. S. (1936). Further experiments upon the longevity of Xenopsylla cheopis Roths, (siph.). Parasitology, 28, 403–9.Google Scholar
Longanecker, D. S. & Burroughs, A. L. (1952). Sylvatic plague studies, IX. Studies of the microclimate of the California ground squirrel burrow and its relation to seasonal changes in the flea population. Ecology, 33, 488–9.Google Scholar
Mellanby, K. (1933). The influence of temperature and humidity on the pupation of Xenopsylla cheopis. Bull. Ent. Res. 24, 197–202.Google Scholar
Mitzmain, (1910). Some new facts on the bionomics of the California rodent fleas. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer., 3, 61–82.Google Scholar
Nicoll, W. (1912). On the length of life of the rat flea apart from its host. Brit. Med. J. 2, 926–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rall, Y. M. (1939). Thermal conditions in the burrows of sand rodents, and methods of studying them. Zool. Zh. 18, 110–19.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Nielsen, Bodil, & Schmidt, Nielsen, Knut, (1950). Evaporative water loss in desert rodents in their natural habitat. Ecology, 31, 75–85.Google Scholar
Sharif, M. (1937). On the life history and the biology of the rat flea, Nosopsyllus fasciatus (Bosc). Parasitology, 29, 225–38.Google Scholar
Sharif, M. (1949). Effects of constant temperature and humidity on the development of the larvae and the pupae of the three Indian species of Xenopsylla (Insecta: Siphonaptera). Phil. Trans. B. 233, 581–635.Google Scholar
Sikes, E. K. (1931). Notes on breeding fleas, with reference to humidity and feeding. Parasitology, 23, 243–9.Google Scholar
Stewart, M. A. & Evans, F. C. (1941). A comparative study of rodent and burrow flea populations. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol., N.Y., 47, 140–2.Google Scholar
Strickland, C. (1914). The biology of Ceratophyllus fasciatus Bosc., the common rat-flea of Great Britain. J. Hyg., Camb., 14, 129–42.Google Scholar
Tiflov, V. & Ioff, I. G. (1932). Observations on the biology of fleas. Rev. microbiol., Saratov, 11, 95–117.Google Scholar
Vorhies, C. T. (1945). Water requirements of desert animals in the Southwest. Tech. Bull. Univ. Arizona, no. 107, pp. 487–525.Google Scholar
Webster, W. J. (1930). Observations on rat fleas and the transmission of plague. Indian J. Med. Res. 18, 391–405.Google Scholar