Morphological asymmetry is widely used to measure developmental instability and higher levels of asymmetry often correlate with decreased mating success, increased inbreeding, increased stress and decreased habitat quality. We studied asymmetry and relationships between asymmetry and host identity in two flea species, host generalist Xenopsylla ramesis and host specialist Parapulex chephrenis, ...

Rickettsia typhi (prevalence 1.9%) and R. felis (prevalence 24.8%) DNA were detected in rat fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) collected from mice on Oahu Island, Hawaii. The low prevalence of R. typhi on Oahu suggests that R. felis may be a more common cause of rickettsiosis than R. typhi in Hawaii.

The present study was performed to assess the infection of rodent reservoirs and their fleas to plaque agent (Yersinia pestis) in Kurdistan and North Khorasan respectively as active endemic and inactive nonendemic foci in the country. Live traps were used to collect rodents in spring and summer 2015. Totally, 109 rodents were trapped. Rodents of genus Apodemus witherbyi (40.5%) were the most ab...

The quality of offspring produced by parent fleas (Xenopsylla ramesis) fed on either male or female rodent hosts (Meriones crassus) was studied. The emergence success, duration of development, resistance to starvation upon emergence and body size of the flea offspring were measured. It was predicted that offspring of fleas produced by parents that fed on male hosts (i) will survive better as pr...

For almost a century, the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), was thought to be the most efficient vector of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis (Yersin). Approximately 2 wk after consuming an infectious bloodmeal, a blockage often forms in the flea's proventriculus, which forces the flea to increase its biting frequency and consequently increases the ...

Rickettsia typhi and R. felis, etiologic agents of murine typhus and fleaborne spotted fever, respectively, were detected in Oriental rat fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) collected from rodents and shrews in Java, Indonesia. We describe the first evidence of R. felis in Indonesia and naturally occurring R. felis in Oriental rat fleas.

We investigated a cluster of 5 plague cases; the patients included 4 with severe pharyngitis and submandibular lymphadenitis. These 4 case-patients had eaten raw camel liver. Yersinia pestis was isolated from bone marrow of the camel and from jirds (Meriones libycus) and fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis) captured at the camel corral.

From Feb.-Apr. 1999, 19 species of ectoparasitic arthropods (2 sucking lice, 4 fleas, 4 ticks, 2 mesostigmatid mites, 5 chiggers, 2 fur mites) were recovered from 106 rodents belonging to 5 species (cotton mouse, Peromyscus gossypinus, n = 64; cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, n = 23; eastern woodrat, Neotoma floridana, n = 9; golden mouse, Ochrotomys nuttalli, n = 9; eastern gray squirrel, Sciuru...