Sr. Pullen et Rw. Meola, SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION OF THE CAT FLEA (SIPHONAPTERA, PULICIDAE) FED HUMAN BLOOD ON AN ARTIFICIAL MEMBRANE SYSTEM, Journal of medical entomology, 32(4), 1995, pp. 467-470
Adult cat fleas, Ctenocephalides fells (Bouche), survive and reproduce
when fed human blood through an artificial membrane system. When a do
g hair substrate was included in cages with the fleas, mean adult mort
ality was 2.4 after 12 d of bloodfeeding. Egg production began after 3
d and was continuous for 12 d, ranging from 3 to 4 eggs per female pe
r day. In cages without hair, mean adult mortality was 61.2% after 12
d of bloodfeeding. Egg production began after 2 d, reached a maximum o
f two eggs per female per day after 7 d, and decreased thereafter. No
significant differences in egg hatch were seen in treatment groups sam
pled from 5 to 7 d after the onset of bloodfeeding. After 7 d, however
, egg hatch for fleas maintained in cages without hair was significant
ly lower than in cages where fleas were maintained on dog hair. Adult
emergence from these lan;ae did not differ significantly between the t
wo groups. Egg hatch and adult emergence in both groups of fleas fed o
n human blood did not differ significantly from egg hatch and adult em
ergence in fleas fed on colony cats.