Pulex irritans Linnaeus 1758
Creators: name: Sanchez, Juliana Patricia
name: Ezquiaga, María Cecilia
name: Ruiz, Melanie
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Siphonaptera
Pulicidae
Pulex
Pulex irritans

description: Pulex irritans Linnaeus, 1758
Type host and locality. “Man”; Sweden, Suecia.
Geographic range. Cosmopolitan. In Argentina (Fig. 2): provinces of Catamarca, Córdoba, Chubut, Formosa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, San Luis, Santiago del Estero, and Tucumán. In Buenos Aires province: Ajó (General Lavalle), Bahía Blanca, Bonifacio, Cañada Mariano, La Plata, and Los Yngleses (Lareschi et al. 2016).
Other known hosts for Argentina. Mammalia-Artiodactyla— Mazama americana, Mazama gouazoubira. Didelphimorphia—Didelphidae— Didelphis albiventris, D. aurita, Didelphis sp. Carnivora—Canidae— Canis familiaris, Lycalopex griseus, L. gymnocercus. Felidae— Puma concolor. Mephitidae— Conepatus humboldtii, C. chinga. Mustelidae— Galictis cuja. Procyonidae— Nasua nasua. Lagomorpha— Lepus europeus, Lepus sp. Rodentia—Caviidae— Dolichotis patagonum, Microcavia australis. Chinchillidae— Lagidium viscacia, Lagostomus maximus. Ctenomyidae— Ctenomys sp. Cricetidae— Graomys griseoflavus. Muridae— Mus musculus (Lareschi et al. 2016).
Specimens examined. Azul, Buenos Aires province, 10 females (MLP JS1 _1, MLP JS2 _1, MLP JS3 _1, MLP JS3 _2, MLP JS6 _1, MLP JS7 _1, MLP JS8 _1, MLP JS10 _1, MLP JS12, MLP JS14 _1); 7 males (MLP JS1_2, MLP JS4, MLP JS5, MLP JS9, MLP JS11_1, MLP JS13_1, MLP JS13_2).
parasitological indexes. n(fleas anterior-right flank) =17; n(pigs) = 30; n(parasitized pigs) = 14; prevalence (anterior-right flank) = 46.7%; mean abundance (anterior-right flank) = 0.5; mean intensity (anterior-right flank) = 1.2.
Remarks. Pulex irritans is characterized by the following morphological characters: Frons smoothly rounded, much higher than long; without a tubercle. Internal incrassation of frons hardly projecting inwards from margin of frons. Antennal club asymmetrical. Eye large, dark, subangulate ventrally; with single ocular setae. Occipital region with only one visible setae. Labial palpus stiff, more than a half to length of fore coxa; with four segment and anterior side more strongly sclerotized than posterior. Mandibles not enlarged, much shorter than maxillary palpus. Metanotum longer than tergite I. Pleural rod of mesothorax absent. Hind coxa with a row of small spiniforms on inside, near apex, forming a patch. Male with fixed process of clasper broad, very large and covering the other two processes of clasper. Female with fore margin of sternite VII sclerotized. Sternite VIII truncate, very pale and poorly sclerotized. Tergite VIII with a numerous setae on apex. Bulga of spermatheca subglobular, hila longer, almost twice the length of the bulga. Pulex spp. are known to feed on pigs (Pulex irritans, Pulex porcinus and Pulex simulans). Piggeries often become the source of acute human infections after the pigs have been taken to market (Durden et al. 2005; Mullen & Durden 2009). Particularly, P. irritans is mistakenly called the human flea, although it attacks a wide variety of mammals, including domesticated animals and wildlife. Infestations in humans can reach tremendous levels, particularly when farmers share their dwellings with their livestock, or hold these animals in corrals or buildings adjacent to their homes (Bitam et al. 2010). This flea is a recognized vector of pathogens causing salmonella, bubonic plague, tularemia and murine typhus (Mullen & Durden 2009).
description: Published as part of Sanchez, Juliana Patricia, Ezquiaga, María Cecilia & Ruiz, Melanie, 2018, Fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) with public health relevance in domestic pigs (Artiodactyla: Suidae) from Argentina, pp. 144-150 in Zootaxa 4374 (1) on page 146, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4374.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/1152712