The strength of interspecific interactions varies over geographical scales, and can influence patterns of resource specialisation. Even with gene flow preventing local adaptation of a consumer to particular resources, we might expect that across its entire range, the consumer would show some specialisation for the resource types most likely to be encountered across the localities where it occur...

We tested the hypothesis that a negative fitness-density relationship exists in haematophagous ectoparasites. We studied the effect of flea density on the number of blood meals necessary for starting oviposition and egg production in Xenopsylla conformis and Xenopsylla ramesis when exploiting two rodent hosts, Meriones crassus and Gerbillus dasyurus. The number of blood meals taken by a flea pr...

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on the Great Plains of the United States are highly susceptible to plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, with mortality on towns during plague epizootics often approaching 100%. The ability of flea-borne transmission to sustain disease spread has been questioned because of inefficiency of flea vectors. However, even with low individual...

Four active ingredients--imidacloprid selamectin, fipronil-(S)-methoprene, and metaflumizone--were tested to assess the speed of flea kill against existing flea infestations and subsequent reinfestations. Thirty flea-infested cats were allocated to four treatment groups and one untreated control group. Flea counts were performed 6, 18, and 48 hours after treatment (day 0) and 2, 4, and 24 hours...

Oral grooming is common in cats, as in rodent and bovid species where grooming has been shown to be effective in removing lice and ticks. In Experiment 1, we examined the effectiveness of oral grooming in removing fleas which are the main ectoparasite of cats. Elizabethan collars (E-collars) which prevented grooming were fitted on nine cats in a flea-infested household and 3 weeks later, flea n...

A flea larval bioassay was developed by an international team of scientists to monitor the susceptibility of fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) to imidacloprid (Advantage, Bayer HealthCare). The assay was validated using laboratory and field isolates of C. felis. Flea eggs representing different field isolates of C. felis were collected by veterinarians in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germ...

Among 310 fleas collected from dogs and cats in Germany, Rickettsia felis was detected in all specimens (34) of Archaeopsylla erinacei (hedgehog flea) and in 9% (24/226) of Ctenocephalides felis felis (cat flea). R. helvetica was detected in 1 Ceratophyllus gallinae (hen flea).

A suite of commercially available volatile compounds was tested in an olfactometer bioassay for responses by the crucifer flea beetle (Phyllotreta cruciferae). Flea beetles were inhibited by exposure to hexane, pentane, and ethanol. Allyl-isothiocyanate, a crucifer-specific volatile, was moderately attractive to spring and early fall flea beetles, but inhibitory to late fall flea beetles. Sprin...

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) require extensive prairie dog colonies (Cynomys spp.) to provide habitat and prey. Epizootic plague kills both prairie dogs and ferrets and is a major factor limiting recovery of the highly endangered ferret. In addition to epizootics, we hypothesized that enzootic plague, that is, presence of disease-causing Yersinia pestis without any noticeable prairie...

Tungiasis is a neglected parasitic skin disease caused by the permanent penetration of the female sand flea (also called jigger flea) Tunga penetrans into the skin of its host. After penetration, most commonly on the feet, the flea undergoes an impressing hypertrophy, and some days later the abdominal segments of the flea have enlarged up to the size of about 1 cm. The flea infestation is assoc...