title: Responses of artificially reared cat fleas Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouché, 1835) to different mammalian bloods.
abstract: The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche, 1835) (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), which is found worldwide and which parasitizes many species of wild and domestic animal, is a vector and/or reservoir of bacteria, protozoa and helminths. To aid in the study of the physiology and behaviour of fleas and of their transmission of pathogens, it would be of value to improve the laboratory rearing of pathogen-free fleas. The conditions under which artificially reared fleas at the University of Bristol (U.K.) and the Rickettsial Diseases Institute (France) are maintained were studied, with different ratios of male to female fleas per chamber (25 : 50, 50 : 100, 100 : 100, 200 : 200). The fleas were fed with bovine, ovine, caprine, porcine or human blood containing the anticoagulants sodium citrate or EDTA. Egg production was highest when fleas were kept in chambers with a ratio of 25 males to 100 females. In addition, the use of EDTA as an anticoagulant rather than sodium citrate resulted in a large increase in the number of eggs produced per female; however, the low percentage of eggs developing through to adult fleas was lower with EDTA. The modifications described in our rearing methods will improve the rearing of cat fleas for research.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS 7278), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD 198), University of Aix Marseille (UMR 63), Marseille, France; Institut Pasteur d'Algérie, Algiers, Algeria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kernif
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bitam
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chiaroni
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parola
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D058251:Ctenocephalides / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods*; D012418:Ruminants / Q000502:physiology; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013045:Species Specificity; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004492:Edetic Acid
keywords: Ctenocephalides felis felis; anticoagulants; artificially reared fleas; fleas; human and animal bloods