Flea

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Flea

Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Siphonaptera
Superfamilies
Infraorder: Pulicomorpha Pulicoidea Malacopsylloidea Vermipsylloidea Coptopsylloidea Ancistropsylloidea Infraorder: Pygiopsyllomorpha Pygiopsylloidea Infraorder: Hystrichopsyllomorpha Hystrichopsylloidea Macropsylloidea Stephanocircidoidea Infraorder: Ceratophyllomorpha Ceratophylloidea
Image Description

Introduction

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Anatomy

A flea is divided into three different parts of body. These are head, thorax, and abdomen. Most fleas have usually dark brown colored body. The size of flea is so tiny, it is usually 1/12" to 1/6". However, people can recognize the flea easily if they have seen it before even though it is very small.[1] A flea are wingless, so it cannot fly.[2] However, because of its long legs, it can jump about 200 times its length of body. Also the flea has antennae, which is attached to its head, to detect heats, carbon dioxide, and vibrations. The flea's eyes are for notice the changes in the air currents and find meals.[3]

Locomotion

Not like most other invertebrates, a flea does not fly. It is wingless.[4] However, instead of using wings for locomotion, it uses its legs for locomotion. The flea has three pairs of legs. These are attached to its thorax. Usually legs are side to side or flattened vertically. These characteristics allow the flea to move easily in hair, feathers, and fur. One of a flea's characteristics are a flea has long legs. Especially, back legs are longer. These long legs can be bent into several joints. When the flea jumps, it bends its legs and resilin, elastic protein pad, stores the energy. When the bent legs are held by a tendon, the flea releases the tendon and legs rapidly become straight.[5]

Mouthparts

The flea uses its mouthpart to suck blood. Mouthpart is adopted to pierce the skin of human and animals, since the flea is a external parasite.[6] The mouth of the flea is attached to its head. The mouth parts form a drinking tube that looks like a needle. When the flea cuts the skin of animals of human, it uses laciniae which is attached to the flea's mouthpart. The epipharynx acts like a needle on the flea's mouth. The laciniae surround the epipharynx. The laciniae and the epipharynx form the stylet. The flea has only one stylet. The flea sucks the blood through its stylet.[7] The prementum and labial palps make the labium which supports the stylet.[8]

Exoskeleton

The flea seems it has a smooth skin. The flea's body is covered with sclerite which is a hard plate. The sclerite protects the flea from everything that is try to harm the flea. The flea's sclerite, the exoskeleton, does not seem like it is not covered with anything. However, the sclerite is covered with tiny hair.[9]

Reproduction

Flea larva.

The flea has four complete life cycle stages; eggs,larva, pupa, and adult. Usually 50 percent of population of flea takes eggs. 35 percent takes larva 10 percent takes pupae and 5 percent is for adults. The flea's life cycle starts when the female flea lays eggs. The adult fleas must be fed before they begins the reproduction. The female fleas lay the eggs up to 20 per day. Usually female fleas lay about 600 eggs in a life time.[10] It takes about two days to two weeks to hatch from eggs. When the flea hatches from the egg, it is called larva. [11]

Larva is blind when it hatches from the egg. It usually tries to avoid the lights. It normally takes a week to few months to develop. Larvae does not directly suck blood from animals.[12]