Fleas and Flea Management - Urban Insect Pests: Sustainable Management Strategies - page 91

(a) (b)

Fig. 6.2. The dog fl ea (a) has both genal and pronotal combs, whereas the human fl ea (b) lacks both
combs.

Monitoring Fleas when handling nest boxes for wild birds

or when simply living in premises in
which birds are also nesting. The adult
fl ea has a pronotal comb only. Echidno-
phaga gallinacea is also found on poul-
try but appears largely restricted to
warmer countries. C. columbae is found
in pigeons but will bite humans.
• The sand fl ea ( Tunga penetrans ): This
species is native to South America where
it is a parasite to humans as well as a
wide range of other animals, including
pigs, cats and dogs. It was exported to
Africa in the 19th century and then to
the Indian subcontinent, although recent
work indicates that it may no longer be
present in India (Pampiglione et al. ,
2009). The male fl eas are free-living but
the female fl eas burrow into the skin of
the feet and ankles of humans. The fl eas
become permanently attached to the
host and grow to the size of a pea, with
the head within the tissue of the foot and
the rear of the abdomen projecting
slightly through the skin surface. Eggs
are laid out into the exterior.

Monitoring adult fl ea numbers off the
host

Despite their small size, fl eas are readily
detected and caught by using pieces of
adhesive tape. For quantitative assessments,
however, more sophisticated techniques are
used. For research work, wearing white
socks and walking around the premises and
then counting the fl eas on the socks, or
dragging a square of fl annel cloth around
the premises and counting the fl eas on the
cloth, have both proved effective (Borchert
et al. , 2012). Such techniques, however, are
less suitable for use in professional pest
control. Osbrink et al. (1986) evaluated the
effectiveness of a vacuum cleaner and
adhesive rollers to collect adult fl eas and
found them effective. Muller et al. (2011)
compared the effectiveness of four com-
mercially available fl ea traps. All traps
consisted of a light source and an adhesive
pad on which fl eas were caught. The most
effective used a fl ickering LED light source,
and in an urban setting this method caught
between 7 and 23 times more fl eas than the
other devices.
Fleas in rodent burrows may be sampled
by poking a piece of cloth attached to a stiff
cable or hose down into the burrow and
then examining the cloth (Gage , 1999).

A number of other fl ea species may also
bite humans from time to time, such as
Archeopsylla erinace i (the hedgehog fl ea),
Nosopsyllus fasciatus (the European rat
fl ea) and Spilopsyllus cuniculi (the rabbit
fl ea), but are less important as pests.