Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I Brief descriptive ecology: what do fleas do?
- 1 Composition of the order
- 2 Hosts of Siphonaptera
- 3 Geographical distribution of fleas
- 4 Origin and evolution of fleas
- 5 Life cycles
- 6 Fleas and humanity
- Part II Functional ecology: how do fleas do what they do?
- Part III Evolutionary ecology: why do fleas do what they do?
- References
- Index
5 - Life cycles
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I Brief descriptive ecology: what do fleas do?
- 1 Composition of the order
- 2 Hosts of Siphonaptera
- 3 Geographical distribution of fleas
- 4 Origin and evolution of fleas
- 5 Life cycles
- 6 Fleas and humanity
- Part II Functional ecology: how do fleas do what they do?
- Part III Evolutionary ecology: why do fleas do what they do?
- References
- Index
Summary
Fleas are typical holometabolous insects. The life cycle of any flea species consists of an egg that hatches into a larva, which generally undergoes three larval moults and an inactive pupal stage before emerging as an adult. Although Siphonaptera is a small order, fleas demonstrate high variability in some life-cycle details such as diversity of larval microenvironmental preferences, larval feeding mechanisms, and nutritional requirements. In this chapter, I present some information on flea life cycles.
Mating and oviposition
Newly emerged female fleas have underdeveloped ovaries blocked with a follicular plug (Kunitskaya, 1960, 1970; Vashchenok, 1966a), whereas newly emerged males of many species have a testicular plug which prevents the passage of sperm from the testes to the vas deferens (Akin, 1984; Dean & Meola, 1997). In general, the blood meal is a trigger for the development of ovaries in female fleas (Vashchenok, 1988; Liao & Lin, 1993) and for the dissolution of the testicular plug in males (Rothschild et al., 1970; Kamala Bai & Prasad, 1979; Akin, 1984). Consequently, the majority of fleas mate after feeding. This was established, for example, for Leptopsylla segnis and Leptopsylla taschenbergi (Kosminsky, 1960) and Citellophilus tesquorum (Bryukhanova, 1966). Unfed Nosopsyllus fasciatus usually do not mate, but can be forced to copulate by increased air temperature (Iqbal & Humphries, 1970). Occasionally, only one sex has to be fed prior to copulation (e.g. Echidnophaga gallinacea: Suter, 1964; Marshall, 1981a). However, some species can mate immediately after emergence or, at least, prior to the first blood meal.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of FleasA Model for Ecological Parasitology, pp. 45 - 67Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
- 3
- Cited by