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Diversity of Plague Vectors: Fleas of the Genus Frontopsylla Wagner et Ioff, 1926 (Siphonaptera, Leptopsyllidae)

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Abstract

The taxonomic diversity, distribution patterns, and host-parasite relationships of fleas of the Palaearctic genus Frontopsylla (Leptopsyllidae, Paradoxopsyllinae) are analyzed. The role of some members of this genus as pathogen vectors and reservoirs in natural plague foci of Eurasia is considered; 11 out of 36 Frontopsylla species have been recorded as the main, accessory or occasional vectors of the plague pathogen.

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Funding

This work was based on the collections of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (UFC ZIN 2-2.20), supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 19-04-00759), and partly supported by State Research Assignment AAAA-A19-119020790133-6 “Development of modern foundations of taxonomy and phylogenetics of parasitic and blood-sucking arthropods.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. G. Medvedev

  2. Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, 664047, Irkutsk, Russia

    D. B. Verzhutsky

  3. North-Caucasus Federal University, 355009, Stavropol, Russia

    B. K. Kotti

  4. Stavropol Anti-Plague Research Institute, 355009, Stavropol, Russia

    B. K. Kotti

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  1. S. G. Medvedev
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  2. D. B. Verzhutsky
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  3. B. K. Kotti
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Correspondence to S. G. Medvedev.

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Medvedev, S.G., Verzhutsky, D.B. & Kotti, B.K. Diversity of Plague Vectors: Fleas of the Genus Frontopsylla Wagner et Ioff, 1926 (Siphonaptera, Leptopsyllidae). Entmol. Rev. 101, 1273–1286 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873821090050

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