Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis Bouché (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

Cat fleas are the most common ectoparasite on both dogs and cats in North America. These small (2 mm), reddish brown, wingless insects have bodies that are laterally compressed (i.e., flattened side-to-side) and covered with many backward-projecting spines, making them, like a cocklebur, difficult to remove from the animal’s coat. Their hind legs are long and well adapted for jumping. Adult fleas feed exclusively on blood and their mouthparts are equipped for sucking blood from the host. Cat fleas attack a variety of warm-blooded hosts, including humans and pets, making them both a veterinary problem and household pest. Although cat fleas have been collected from more than 30 species of urban and suburban wildlife, most of these animals are not satisfactory hosts.

Cat fleas do not commonly serve as disease agent vectors. However, they are capable of transmitting the causative agents of flea-borne typhus (Rickettsia typhi) and cat scratch disease (Bartonella henselae). The cat flea is...