A Parasitic Flea Larva

Abstract

IT is well known that the larvæ of fleas live in the nests, or resting environment, of the mammals or birds on the blood of which the adults feed. One of us (H. M.) has found flea larvæ living in the fur of the Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus groenlandicus Rhoads) in East Greenland. During a Danish expedition in 1932–33, to Eskimonaes, Christian X Land, forty Arctic hares were examined for parasites. Fleas were found on thirty-nine of these and flea larvæ on seven—on four in considerable numbers. It is possible that larvæ were present on others, because, after they were first noticed, every hare examined was found to carry them. The adults examined were all Hoplopsyllus glacialis glacialis Tasch. This is the only species which has been recorded for the Arctic hare, on which it appears to be a regular parasite throughout its range¹, and the larvæ may be presumed to belong to the same species.