Circular No. 108. I nited States Departme BUREAU OF ENTO L. O. HOWARD. Entomologist and HOI SI. FLEAS. Bj l. O. How \w>. .Iuil£rin£r from the specimens of 1 1 * • : » — sent to t ho Bureau of Ento- mology of recent years with complaints of houses being infested by them, the human flea {Pview irritant L.) is not the species most likely Fio. 1. — Cat and dog Sea (Ctenocephahu canto) : >/. Egg; '». tarn In cocoon; '. pupa: J, adult ; i', mouth par- from tide ; /. ■/. labium tram below '■ Ifnch enlarged . more enlarged. (Author's Illustration, redrawn.) to occur in great numbers in dwelling houses in 1 1 * i — eountry, but rather the common, cosmopolitan flea of the d< g and cal I cephahu cants Curtis).* This holds especially for the eastern n In the earlier publications of thN office, Bulletin i and circular 18, tins species has b een re fer re d to under the name P Oerv. 88200 l United States. Pulex irritam is sometimes found in houses in California, and is the prevailing household flea of Europe. A house may become infested with the eat and dog flea even though no domestic animals be kept, for a visitor at a house where such pets are maintained may be the means of carrying home with him one or two female fleas which will stock his own premises. Of course, where a pet dog or cat is kept, the source of the infestation is manifest. The worst case- of infestation reported to this Bureau have usually been those in which houses had been temporarily unoccupied during the summer. Such houses during a rainy summer become more or less dam]), and as a rule the customary sweeping of the floor- i- inter- rupted, thus furnishing the very conditions under which, as we shall see. fleas most readily propagate. The eggs (fig. 1, a) of Ctenocephalus canis are deposited among the hairs of cats and dogs, but as they are not attached to the hairs, numbers drop off whenever the infested animal moves or lie- down. From these eggs hatch the larvae (fig. 2. a), which are -lender. minute, white, wormlike creature-. They are very active, crawl rapidly, penetrate into the cracks of the floor, and live there until full grown, feeding upon such organic matter as may have collected in the cracks. They develop rapidly, and in midsummer in Washington reach full growth in a short time. On reaching full growth the larva spins a delicate, white, silken cocoon (fig. 1. 7j). and transform- to pupa (fig. 1, c). the adults (fig. 1. d) issuing a few days later. A whole generation may develop in the course of a fortnight in warm, damp weather, but a great excess of moisture results in the destruc- tion of the larva>. With this rapid development under the most favorable conditions, a housekeeper, shutting up her house in June, for example, with a colony of fleas too small to be noticed inside the house, should not be surprised to find the establishment overrun with fleas when she opens it again in September or October. KEMEDIK-. If you do not desire to be troubled by fleas, do not keep cats or dogs. If you must keep a pet dog or cat. provide a rug for the animal to sleep on, and give this rug a frequent shaking and brushing, after- wards sweeping up and burning the dust thus removed. As all the flea eggs on an infested animal will not. however, drop off in this way. and as those which remain on it will probably develop successfully, it will be found wise to occasionally rub into the hair of the dog or cat a quantity of pyrethrum powder. If thoroughly applied, this powder will cause the fleas to fall off in a half stupefied condition, when they, too, may be swept up and burned. The larva? of the dog and cat flea will not develop successfully in situations where they are likely to be disturbed. The use of carpets [Cir. iosj 3 :t 1 1 1 1 -daw mattings, in the writer's opinion, favors their development, since the young larvae can penetrate the interstices of either botI of floor covering and find an abiding place in some crack where they are not likely to be disturbed. It is comparatively easj t" destroy the insect in its earlj stages (when it is noticed), but the adult fleas are so active and so hardy that they successfully resist any but 1 1 » « - most strenuous measures. Even the persistent use of California buhacb ami oilier |>\ Tethrum powders was ineffectual in one case ><( extreme infestation, a- was also, and more remarkably, a free sprinkling of floor mattings with benzine. In tin- instance it was finally necessan to take up the floor-coverings and wash the floors down with hoi psuds i:i order to secure relief from the ilea plague. In another case, however, a single liberal application of buhach was perfectlj successful, while in a third a single thorough application of benzine completely rid an infested house id' Ilea-. In had cases almost nothing will avail without the greatest care in keeping the floor and other coverings, a- well a- crevices, etc.. free from dust and dirt. The old remedy often mentioned of putting a piece of raw meat upon a -heel id' Micky il\ paper, in the hope that the fleas will jump for the meat and lie caught by the il\ paper, has been thoroughly tried by the writer without success. Where their arc comparatively few Ilea- in a house or in a given room, the following somewhat laborious plan will result in eradication. Place a white cloth, like a pillowcase, in the middle of the Moor. The fleas, attracted by the white color, will jump on the cloth. Then, with a basin of water, kneel down and with the wetted forefinger pick up the flea- one after another and put them in the water. The writer ha- known several houses in Washington to he rid of rather sparse populations of Ilea- in this manner. Mi. E. M. Ehrhorn, of San Francisco, gives the following remedy, which he -tate- he has tested and which hi- mother used with effect in South America. Fill a glass three fourth- with water, on top of which pour about an inch of olive oil. then place a night float (a little wick inserted in a cardboard disk or in a cork disk) in the center of the oil. Place the tumbler in the center of a SOUp plate filled with strong soapsuds. The wick should he lighted at night on retiring, or may he used in any dark room. A- the soup-plate-soap- - trap i< placed on the floor of the room it doe- not interfere with the sleeper, and the flea- which arc on the floor arc attracted to the light. For outbuildings, such a- ham-, etc, a large milk pan may he used, and instead of using olive oil anil a glass, a stable lantern may he placed in the center id' the pan, while instead of soapsuds a -cum of kerosene may he put on the water in the milk pan. [Clr UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 3 1262 09216 5280 To sum up: Every house where a pet dog or cat is kept may be- come seriously infested with fleas if the proper conditions of moisture and freedom from disturbance exist. Infestation, however, is not likely to occur if the (bare) doors can be frequently and thoroughly swept. When an outbreak of fleas comes, however, the easiest remedy to apply is a free sprin- kling of pyrethruni pow- der in the infested rooms. This failing, benzine may be tried, a thorough spray- ing of carpets and floors being undertaken, with the exercise of due pre- caution in seeing that no lights or fires are in the house at the time of the application, or for some hours afterwards. Final- ly, if the plague is not thus abated, all floor cov- erings must be removed and the floors washed with hot soapsuds. This is a useful precaution in any house which it is proposed to close for the summer, since even a thorough sweeping may leave behind some few flea eggs from which an all-pervading swarm may develop before the house is reopened. Approved : James WlLSON, Secretary of Agriculture. Washington. D. C, December 29, 1908. [Cir. 1081 O Fig. 2. — Cat and dog flea {Ctenoeephalus canis) : «. Larva ; h, head of same ; c, anal end of same. a. Much enlarged; h, c, more enlarged. (Authors illustration, redrawn.)