(Ctenocephalides canis)
Biology:
Fleas have a laterally flattened body and hind legs formed into jumping legs, which give them enormous jumping power. Their color is brownish to black. The adult animals live as bloodsuckers on humans, mammals and birds and feed exclusively on the blood of their hosts. Before their first blood meal, adult dog fleas can survive for about two to eight weeks without a host, after which they must suck blood at least once a day in order to survive.
The females lay their eggs indiscriminately in the vicinity of host animals. The thread-like flea larvae grow to about 5 mm long, live in dust and waste and feed on organic material. They are negatively phototactic and hide mainly during the day in cracks, crevices, textiles and carpet fibers around the hosts (e.g. dog beds and other sleeping places).
They usually get into residential buildings through pets.
The dog flea has a body length of 1.5 to 3 mm and can easily be confused with the very similar looking cat flea. Both have “spiny combs” on the cheeks and on the back of the neck (rear edge of the 1st thoracic ring). The distribution of the spines and the number of spines are typical for different flea species (identification features).
Most fleas are not dependent on the blood of a single host species, but have a main host and several secondary hosts. The main hosts of the dog flea are domestic dogs, foxes and wolves; secondary hosts include humans, domestic cats and domestic rabbits.
Damage:
Fleas cause painful bites in humans and pets, which trigger unpleasant itching. The bites are often in a row, as test bites are often carried out before being fully ingested. Various flea species are held responsible for plague epidemics in earlier centuries, as they acted as carriers of the bubonic plague pathogen from rats to humans. Fleas can also transmit tapeworms to dogs and cats if they are bitten and swallowed by pets.
