A comparison of jump performances of the dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) and the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche, 1835)

Jump performances of Ctenocephalides canis and Ctenocephalides felis felis have been measured and compared on unfed young images, The mean length of t he C. felis felis jump was 19.9+/-9.1 cm; minimum jump was 2 cm, and the ma ximum was one 48 cm. The C. canis jump was significantly longer (30.4+/-9.1 cm; from 3 to 50 cm). For height jump evaluation, grey plastic cylindric t ubes measuring 9 cm in diameter were used. Their height was increasing from 1 to 30 cm by 1 cm. Groups of 10 fleas of the same species were deposited on the base of the tube. The number of fleas which succeeded in jumping abo ve the tube was recorded. The mean height jump carried out by 50% of fleas was calculated after linearisation of the curves: it was 15.5 and 13.2 cm f or C. canis and C. felis, respectively. The highest jump was 25 for C. cani s and 17 cm for C. felis. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.