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Most common pest flea species

Fleas (Siphonaptera) are common throughout the world and are most often associated with mammals or birds. The greatest diversity of fleas is found in temperate climate zones. As humans had domesticated many wild animals long ago, fleas have also had a long history of being bothersome everyday pests.

There are approximately 2400 species of fleas found worldwide with around 330 in North America. Fleas are always found close to their hosts, among the feathers or hair or in the burrows and nests.

Almost all of the fleas can feed on different animals, but they prefer some hosts to others. For example cat fleas favor cats, but they perfectly live on dogs too and can bite humans.

Here is the list of pest fleas, found in most parts of the world on domestic animals:

The cat flea - Ctenocephalides felis – found on cats and dogs

The dog flea - Ctenocephalides canis – found on dogs and cats

The human flea - Pulex irritans – found on humans or domestic animals

The sticktight flea - Echidnophaga gallinacea – found on poultry

The hen flea - Ceratophyllus gallinae – found on poultry

The rabbit flea - Spilopsyllus cuniculi – found on wild rabbits, but also on pet rabbits

The oriental rat flea – Xenopsylla cheopsis – found on rats and other rodents

The most common fleas in Britain are the cat flea and the dog flea. The human flea is now extremely rare and is largely found in piggeries.

There are cases known with Archaeopsylla erinacei – the hedgehog flea (living on European hedgehog) biting humans.

The most popular methods of flea control are flea collars, flea powders, flea dips (baths), flea shampoos, different flea sprays etc. Flea drops are also widely used.