| Cat flea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Female cat flea | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Siphonaptera |
| Family: | Pulicidae |
| Genus: | Ctenocephalides |
| Species: | C. felis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1835)
| |
| Subspecies[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pulex felis Bouché, 1835 | |
The cat flea (scientific name Ctenocephalides felis) is an extremely common parasitic insect whose principal host is the domestic cat, although a high proportion of the fleas found on dogs also belong to this species.[3] This is despite the widespread existence of a separate and well-established "dog" flea, Ctenocephalides canis. Cat fleas originated in Africa[4] but can now be found globally.[5] As humans began domesticating cats, the prevalence of the cat flea increased and it spread throughout the world.
Of the cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis is the most common, although other subspecies do exist, including C. felis strongylus, C. orientis, and C. damarensis. [5] Over 90% of fleas found on both dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides felis felis. [3]
- ^ European wildcat species account Archived 2013-03-08 at the Wayback Machine IUCN Species Survival Commission. Cat Specialist Group
- ^ "Ctenocephalides". NCBI taxonomy. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ a b Sue Paterson (16 March 2009). Manual of Skin Diseases of the Dog and Cat. John Wiley & Sons. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-4443-0932-4.
- ^ Lawrence, Andrea L.; Webb, Cameron E.; Clark, Nicholas J.; Halajian, Ali; Mihalca, Andrei D.; Miret, Jorge; D'Amico, Gianluca; Brown, Graeme; Kumsa, Bersissa; Modrý, David; Šlapeta, Jan (April 2019). "Out-of-Africa, human-mediated dispersal of the common cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis: The hitchhiker's guide to world domination". International Journal for Parasitology. 49 (5): 321–336. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.01.001. hdl:10072/392897. ISSN 0020-7519. PMID 30858050. S2CID 75138157.
- ^ a b Rust, Michael (2016-03-17). "Insecticide Resistance in Fleas". Insects. 7 (1): 10. doi:10.3390/insects7010010. ISSN 2075-4450. PMC 4808790. PMID 26999217.