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Silverfish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Lepisma saccharina
Temporal range: 3000 Ma Pre O S D C P T J K
Pg

N Late Carboniferous to Recent[1]

Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Thysanura Family: Lepismatidae Genus: Lepisma Species: L. saccharina Binomial name Lepisma saccharina
Linnaeus, 1758

For other uses, see Silverfish (disambiguation).

Lepisma saccharina, frequently called silverfish, fishmoths, carpet sharks or paramites, are small, wingless insects in the order Thysanura. Its common name derives from the animal's silvery light grey and blue colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements, while the scientific name indicates the silverfish's diet of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches.

Contents

1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Reproduction and life cycle 4 Ecology 5 Etymology 6 Similar species 7 References 8 External links

Description
Silverfish are nocturnal, elongated and flattened insects typically 1325 millimetres (0.51 0.98 in) long.[2] Their abdomen tapers at the end, giving them a fish-like appearance.[3] The newly hatched are whitish, but develop a greyish hue and metallic shine as they get older.[4] They have three long cerci at the tips of their abdomens, one parallel to their body, one facing left, and one facing right. They also have two small compound eyes, despite other members of Thysanura being completely eyeless, such as the family Nicoletiidae.[3][5] Like other species in Apterygota, silverfish completely lack wings.[3][6] They have long antennae, and move in a wiggling motion that resembles the movement of a fish.[7] This, coupled with their appearance, influences their common name. Silverfish typically live for two to eight years.[4]

Distribution
Silverfish are a cosmopolitan species, found throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, Asia and other parts of the Pacific.[8] They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%.[9] In urban areas, they can be found in basements, bathrooms, garages, closets and attics.[4]

Reproduction and life cycle

A silverfish without its silvery scales, which are developed after its third moult

The reproduction of silverfish is preceded by a ritual involving three phases, which may last over half an hour. In the first phase, the male and female stand face to face, their trembling antennae touching, then repeatedly back off and return to this position. In the second phase the male runs away and the female chases him. In the third phase the male and female stand side by side and head-to-tail, with the male vibrating his tail against the female.[10] Finally the male lays a spermatophore, a sperm capsule covered in gossamer, which the female takes into her body via her ovipositor to fertilise the eggs. The female lays groups of less than fifty eggs at once, deposited in small crevices.[11] The eggs are oval-shaped, whitish, about 0.8 millimetres (0.031 in) long,[12] and take between two weeks and two months to hatch. Silverfish usually lay fewer than one hundred eggs in their lifetime.[2] When the nymphs hatch, they are whitish in colour, and look like smaller adults. As they moult, young silverfish develop a greyish appearance and a metallic shine, eventually becoming adults after three months to three years.[11] They may go through seventeen to sixty-six moults in their lifetime, sometimes thirty in a single year, which is much more than usual for an insect. Silverfish are one of the rare species of insect that continue to moult after mating.[13]

Ecology

A book damaged by silverfish Silverfish consume matter that contains polysaccharides, such as starches and dextrin in adhesives.[4] These include glue, book bindings, paper, photos, sugar, coffee, hair, carpet, clothing and dandruff. Silverfish can also cause damage to tapestries. Other substances that may be eaten include cotton, linen, silk, synthetic fibres and dead insects or even its own exuvia (moulted exoskeleton). During famine, a silverfish may even attack leatherware and synthetic fabrics. Silverfish can live for a year or more without eating.[2][4] Silverfish are considered a household pest, due to their consumption and destruction of property.[2] Although they are responsible for the contamination of food and other types of damage, they do not transmit disease.[4][14] Earwigs, house centipedes and spiders are known to be predators of silverfish.[15][16]

Etymology

The scientific name for the species is Lepisma saccharina, due to its tendency to eat starchy foods high in carbohydrates and protein, such as dextrin.[4] However, the insect's more common name comes from the insect's distinctive metallic appearance and fish-like shape.[17] While the scientific name can be traced back to 1758, the common name has been in use since 1855.[18][19

Cockroach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Cockroaches) Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Cockroach (disambiguation). Cockroach

Common household roaches A. German cockroach, B. American cockroach, C. Australian cockroach, D&E. Oriental cockroach ( & )

Scientific classification Kingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Animalia Arthropoda Hexapodaa

Class: Subclass: Infraclass: Superorder: Order:

Insecta Pterygota Neoptera Dictyoptera Blattaria Families

Blaberidae Blattellidae Blattidae Cryptocercidae Polyphagidae Nocticolidae Tryonicidae Lamproblattidae Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. The name cockroach comes from the Spanish word cucaracha, chafer, beetle, from cuca "kind of caterpillar." The scientific name derives from the Latinized Greek name for the insect (Doric Greek: , bltta; Ionic and Attic Greek: , bltt; Latin: Blatta). There are about 4,500 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pests.[1][2] Among the best-known pest species are the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, which is about 30 millimetres (1.2 in) long, the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) long, the Asian cockroach, Blattella asahinai, also about 15 millimetres (0.59 in) in length, and the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, about 25 millimetres (0.98 in). Tropical cockroaches are often much bigger, and extinct cockroach relatives and 'roachoids' such as the Carboniferous Archimylacris and the Permian Apthoroblattina were not as large as the biggest modern species. They usually live alone only coming together to mate.

Contents

1 Selected species 2 Evolutionary history and relationships 3 Behavior 4 Description o 4.1 Eggs and egg capsules o 4.2 Sounds 5 Physiology o 5.1 Digestive tract o 5.2 Tracheae and breathing

5.3 Reproduction 5.4 Hardiness 6 Role as pests 7 Cultural references 8 References o 8.1 Notes o 8.2 Bibliography 9 External links

o o

[edit] Selected species


Blattella germanica, German cockroach Blaptica dubia, South American/Peruvian Dubia cockroach Blatta orientalis, Oriental cockroach Blattella asahinai, Asian cockroach Blaberus craniifer, true death's head cockroach Blaberus discoidalis, discoid cockroach or false death's head Eurycotis floridana, Florida woods cockroach Gromphadorhina portentosa, Madagascar hissing cockroach laxta granicollis, Bark cockroach Parcoblatta pennsylvanica, Pennsylvania woods cockroach Periplaneta americana, American cockroach Periplaneta australasiae, Australian cockroach Periplaneta brunnea, black Mississippi cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa, smokybrown cockroach Pycnoscelus surinamensis, Surinam cockroach Supella longipalpa, brown-banded cockroach

[edit] Evolutionary history and relationships


A 40-50 million year old cockroach in Baltic amber

Blattaria

Polyphagidae Cryptocercidae Blattidae Blattellidae Blaberidae

A proposed phylogeny of the families.[3] Mantodea, Isoptera, and Blattaria are usually combined by entomologists into a higher group called Dictyoptera. Current evidence strongly suggests that termites evolved directly from true cockroaches, and many authors now consider termites to be an epifamily of cockroaches,[4][5] as Blattaria excluding Isoptera is not a monophyletic group.[6]

Historically, the name Blattaria has been used largely interchangeably with the name Blattodea, though in most recent treatments, the latter name refers to a larger grouping that includes numerous fossil groups that were related to roaches, but not true cockroaches themselves. Another name, Blattoptera has come into use for this same paraphyletic group.[7] These earliest cockroach-like fossils ("Blattopterans" or "roachids") are from the Carboniferous period between 354295 million years ago. However, these fossils differ from modern cockroaches in having long external ovipositors and are the ancestors of mantises as well as modern cockroaches. The first fossils of modern cockroaches with internal ovipositors appear in the early Cretaceous.

[edit] Behavior

A cockroach soon after ecdysis

A bush cockroach (Ellipsidion australe)

Cockroaches live in a wide range of environments around the world. Pest species of cockroaches adapt readily to a variety of environments, but prefer warm conditions found within buildings. Many tropical species prefer even warmer environments and do not fare well in the average household.

The spines on the legs were earlier considered to be sensory, but observations of their locomotion on sand and wire meshes have demonstrated that they help in locomotion on difficult terrain. The structures have been used as inspiration for robotic legs.[8][9] Cockroaches leave chemical trails in their feces as well as emitting airborne pheromones for swarming and mating. These chemical trails transmit bacteria on surfaces.Other cockroaches will follow these trails to discover sources of food and water, and also discover where other cockroaches are hiding. Thus, cockroaches can exhibit emergent behavior,[10] in which group or swarm behavior emerges from a simple set of individual interactions. Research has shown that group-based decision-making is responsible for complex behavior such as resource allocation. In a study where 50 cockroaches were placed in a dish with three shelters with a capacity for 40 insects in each, the insects arranged themselves in two shelters with 25 insects in each, leaving the third shelter empty. When the capacity of the shelters was increased to more than 50 insects per shelter, all of the cockroaches arranged themselves in one shelter. Researchers found a balance between cooperation and competition exists in the group decision-making behavior found in cockroaches. The models used in this research can also explain the group dynamics of other insects and animals.[10] Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Asian cockroach, which is attracted to light. Another study tested the hypothesis that cockroaches use just two pieces of information to decide where to go under those conditions: how dark it is and how many other cockroaches there are. The study conducted by Jos Halloy and colleagues at the Free University of Brussels and other European institutions created a set of tiny robots that appear to the roaches as other roaches and can thus alter the roaches' perception of critical mass. The robots were also specially scented so that they would be accepted by the real roaches.[11] Additionally, researchers at Tohoku University engaged in a classical conditioning experiment with cockroaches and discovered that the insects were able to associate the scent of vanilla and peppermint with a sugar treat.[12]

[edit] Description
Cockroaches are generally rather large insects. Most species are about the size of a thumbnail, but several species are bigger. The world's heaviest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach, which can reach 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in length and weigh more than 30 grams (1.1 oz). Comparable in size is the Central American giant cockroach Blaberus giganteus, which grows to a similar length but is not as heavy. Cockroaches have a broad, flattened body and a relatively small head. They are generalized insects, with few special adaptations, and may be among the most primitive living neopteran insects. The mouthparts are on the underside of the head and include generalised chewing mandibles. They have large compound eyes, two ocelli, and long, flexible, antennae. The first pair of wings are tough and protective, lying as a shield on top of the membranous hind wings. All four wings have branching longitudinal veins, and multiple cross-veins. The legs are sturdy, with large coxae and five claws each. The abdomen has ten segments and several cerci.[13]

[edit] Eggs and egg capsules

Female Blatella germanica with ootheca.

Hatched Ootheca

Female cockroaches are sometimes seen carrying egg cases on the end of their abdomen; the egg case of the German cockroach holds about 30 to 40 long, thin eggs, packed like frankfurters in the case called an ootheca. The eggs hatch from the combined pressure of the hatchlings gulping air. The hatchlings are initially bright white nymphs and continue inflating themselves with air, becoming harder and darker within about four hours. Their transient white stage while hatching and later while molting has led many to claim the existence of albino cockroaches. A female German cockroach carries an egg capsule containing around 40 eggs. She drops the capsule prior to hatching, though live births do occur in rare instances. Development from eggs to adults takes 3 to 4 months. Cockroaches live up to a year. The female may produce up to eight egg cases in a lifetime; in favorable conditions, she can produce 300 to 400 offspring. Other species of cockroach, however, can produce an extremely high number of eggs in a lifetime; in some cases a female needs to be impregnated only once to be able to lay eggs for the rest of her life.

[edit] Sounds

Aside from the famous hissing noise, some cockroaches (including a species in Florida) will make a chirping noise.[14]

[edit] Physiology
[edit] Digestive tract

Cockroaches are most common in tropical and subtropical climates. Some species are in close association with human dwellings and widely found around garbage or in the kitchen. Cockroaches are generally omnivorous with the exception of the wood-eating species such as Cryptocercus; these roaches are incapable of digesting cellulose themselves, but have symbiotic relationships with various protozoans and bacteria that digest the cellulose, allowing them to extract the nutrients. The similarity of these symbionts in the genus Cryptocercus to those in termites are such that it has been suggested that they are more closely related to termites than to other cockroaches,[15] and current research strongly supports this hypothesis of relationships.[16] All species studied so far carry the obligate mutualistic endosymbiont bacterium Blattabacterium, with the exception of Nocticola australiensise, an Australian cave dwelling species without eyes, pigment or wings, and which recent genetic studies indicates are very primitive cockroaches.[17][18]
[edit] Tracheae and breathing

Nymph of a cockroach, 3 mm in length.

Cockroaches, like all insects, breathe through a system of tubes called tracheae. The tracheae of insects are attached to the spiracles, excluding the head. Thus cockroaches, like all insects, are not dependent on the mouth and windpipe to breathe. The valves open when the CO2 level in the insect rises to a high level; then the CO2 diffuses out of the tracheae to the outside and fresh O2 diffuses in. Unlike in vertebrates that depend on blood for transporting O2 and CO2, the tracheal system brings the air directly to cells, the tracheal tubes branching continually like a tree until their finest divisions, tracheoles, are associated with each cell, allowing gaseous oxygen to dissolve in the cytoplasm lying across the fine cuticle lining of the tracheole. CO2 diffuses out of the cell into the tracheole.

While cockroaches do not have lungs and thus do not actively breathe in the vertebrate lung manner, in some very large species the body musculature may contract rhythmically to forcibly move air out and in the spiracles; this may be considered a form of breathing.[19]
[edit] Reproduction

Cockroaches use pheromones to attract mates, and the males practice courtship rituals such as posturing and stridulation. Like many insects, cockroaches mate facing away from each other with their genitalia in contact, and copulation can be prolonged. A few species are known to be parthenogenetic, reproducing without the need for males.[13] The female usually attaches the egg-case to a substrate, inserts it into a suitably protective crevice, or carries it about until just before the eggs hatch. Some species, however, are ovoviviparous, keeping the eggs inside their bodies, with or without an egg-case, until they hatch. At least one genus, Diploptera is fully viviparous.[13] Cockroach nymphs are generally similar to the adults, except for undeveloped wings and genitalia. Development is generally slow, and may take anywhere from a few months to over a year. The adults are also long-lived, and have been recorded as surviving for four years in the laboratory.[13]
[edit] Hardiness

Roach Leg

Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps.[20] Some can go without air for 45 minutes. In one experiment, cockroaches were able to recover from being submerged underwater for half an hour.[21]

Ootheca of Periplaneta americana; Florianpolis, SC, Brazil.

It is popularly suggested that cockroaches will "inherit the earth" if humanity destroys itself in a nuclear war. Cockroaches do indeed have a much higher radiation resistance than vertebrates, with the lethal dose perhaps 6 to 15 times that for humans. However, they are not exceptionally radiation-resistant compared to other insects, such as the fruit fly.[22] The cockroach's ability to withstand radiation better than human beings can be explained through the cell cycle. Cells are most vulnerable to the effects of radiation when they are dividing. A cockroach's cells divide only once each time it molts, which is weekly at most in a juvenile roach. Since not all cockroaches would be molting at the same time, many would be unaffected by an acute burst of radiation, but lingering radioactive fallout would still be harmful.[23]

[edit] Role as pests


Cockroaches are one of the most commonly noted household pest insects.[24] They feed on human and pet food, and can leave an offensive odor.[25] They can also passively transport microbes on their body surfaces including those that are potentially dangerous to humans, particularly in environments such as hospitals.[26][27] Cockroaches have been shown to be linked with allergic reactions in humans.[28][29] One of the proteins that triggers allergic reactions has been identified as tropomyosin.[30] These allergens have also been found to be linked with asthma.[31] General preventive measures against household pests include keeping all food stored away in sealed containers, using garbage cans with a tight lid, frequent cleaning in the kitchen, and regular vacuuming. Any water leaks, such as dripping taps, should also be repaired. It is also helpful to seal off any entry points, such as holes around baseboards, in between kitchen cabinets, pipes, doors, and windows with some steel wool or copper mesh and some cement, putty or silicone caulk. Diatomaceous earth applied as a fine powder works very well to eliminate cockroaches as long as it remains in place and dry. Diatomaceous earth is harmless to humans and feels like talcum powder. Most insects, including bed bugs, are vulnerable to it.

Some cockroaches have been known to live up to three months without food and a month without water. Frequently living outdoors, although preferring warm climates and considered "cold intolerant," they are resilient enough to survive occasional freezing temperatures. This makes them difficult to eradicate once they have infested an area.

Cockroach control, with cockroach baits, boric acid, and hydramethylnon gel.

There are numerous parasites and predators of cockroaches, but few of them have proven to be highly effective for biological control of pest species. Wasps in the family Evaniidae are perhaps the most effective insect predators, as they attack the egg cases, and wasps in the family Ampulicidae are predators on adult and nymphal cockroaches (e.g., Ampulex compressa). The house centipede is probably the most effective control agent of cockroaches, though many homeowners find the centipedes themselves objectionable. Ampulex wasps sting the roach more than once and in a specific way. The first sting is directed at nerve ganglia in the cockroach's thorax; temporarily paralyzing the victim for 25 minutes, which is more than enough time for the wasp to deliver a second sting. The second sting is directed into a region of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex, among other things.[32] When the cockroach has recovered from the first sting, it makes no attempt to flee. The wasp clips the antennae with its mandibles and drinks some of the hemolymph before walking backwards and dragging the roach by its clipped antennae to a burrow, where an egg will be laid upon it. The wasp larva feeds on the subdued, living cockroach. Bait stations, gels containing hydramethylnon or fipronil, as well as boric acid powder, are toxic to cockroaches.[33] Baits with egg killers are also quite effective at reducing the cockroach population. Additionally, pest control products containing deltamethrin or pyrethrin are very effective.[33] In Singapore and Malaysia, taxi drivers use Pandan leaves as a cockroach repellent in their vehicles.[34] An inexpensive roach trap can easily be made from a deep smooth-walled jar with some roach food inside, placed with the top of the jar touching a wall or with sticks leading up to the top, so that the roaches can reach the opening. Once inside, they cannot climb back out.

An inch or so of water or stale beer (by itself a roach attractant) will ensure they drown. The method works well with the American cockroach but less so with the German cockroach.[35] A bit of Vaseline can be smeared on the inside of the jar to enhance slipperiness. The method is sometimes called the "Vegas roach trap" after it was popularized by a Las Vegas-based TV station. This version of the trap uses coffee grounds and water.[36] Some of the earliest writings about cockroaches encouraged their use as medicine. Pedanius Dioscorides (1st century), Abu Hanifa ad-Dainuri (9th century), and Kamal al-Din al-Damiri (14th century ) all offered medicines that either suggest grinding them up with oil or boiling them. Cockroaches are but one of many insects whose nutritional excellence has been underestimated or scorned, according to The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook, which also reports (on p.66) that Lafcadio Hearn found that many New Orleanians had great faith in a remedy of boiled cockroach tea. Pest control is cited as one of the reasons for reduced populations of cockroaches in ex-USSR countries.[37]

[edit] Cultural references


Main article: Cultural references to cockroaches

Because of their long, persistent association with humans, cockroaches are frequently referred to in art, literature, folk tales and theater and film. In Western culture, cockroaches are often depicted as vile and dirty pests. Their size, long antennae, shiny appearance and spiny legs make them disgusting to many humans, sometimes even to the point of phobic responses.[38][39] This is borne out in many depictions of cockroaches, from political versions of the song La Cucaracha where political opponents are compared to cockroaches, through the 1982 movie Creepshow and TV shows such as the X-Files, to the Hutu extremists' reference to the Tutsi minority as cockroaches during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 and the controversial cartoons published in the "Iran weekly magazine" in 2006 which implied a comparison between Iranian Azeris and cockroaches. In the movie Men in Black a giant alien cockroach is shown as a predator who eats a farmer and then uses his skin to disguise itself as a human being. In Oliver Twist, the children, Mr. Bumble, and Widow Corney sing about feeding Oliver cockroaches in a canister. Award-winning computer and video game series Fallout takes place in a post-nuclear war universe, in which enlarged, irradiated cockroaches are present as early enemies. This is a nod to the notion of their nuclear fortitude. Not all depictions of cockroaches are purely negative, however. Twilight of the Cockroaches depicts the extermination of cockroaches as a holocaust, and presents a happy ending as the pregnant lead cockroach, Naomi, escapes to mother many generations. In the Pixar film WallE, a cockroach that has survived all humanity is the best friend of the lead character (a robot), and waits patiently on him to return. The same cockroach survives getting squished twice. In the film Joe's Apartment, the cockroaches help the titular hero, and the narrator of the book archy and mehitabel is a sympathetic cockroach. In the book Revolt of the Cockroach People, an autobiographical novel by Oscar Zeta Acosta, cockroaches are used as a metaphor for oppressed and downtrodden minorities in US society in the 1960s and 70s. The image of cockroaches as resilient also leads people to compare themselves to cockroaches. Madonna

has famously quoted, "I am a survivor. I am like a cockroach, you just can't get rid of me."[40] "Cockroach", or some variant of it is also used as a nickname, for example Boxing coach Freddie Roach, who was nicknamed La Cucaracha (The Cockroach) when he was still competing as a fighter. The album The Lonesome Crowded West by rock group Modest Mouse features a song with the title and lyric "Doin' The Cockroach". In the Netherlands 'Zaza the cockroach' becomes a buddy of the boy called Pluk in a popular Dutch book for children: 'Pluk van de Petteflet', written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. In Suzanne Collins's Underland Chronicles series, giant cockroaches are allies of humans in the Underland, and they and a toddler named Margaret (a.k.a. Boots, or "the princess," as the cockroaches call her) love each other. A song called "Project Roach", which uses the image of the cockroach as a pest in comparison to the attitude towards African-Americans in American race relations, is found on rapper Nas's 2008 album Untitled. Moreover, in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, a man, Gregor, is transformed overnight into a monstrous insect with cockroach-like features. He views himself as repulsive in his new identity.

Flea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Fleas) Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Flea (disambiguation). Flea
Temporal range: CretaceousRecent Pre O S D C P T J K
Pg

N
[1]

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) depiction of a flea

Scientific classification Kingdom: Phylum: Class: Subclass: Infraclass: Superorder: Order: Animalia Arthropoda Insecta Pterygota Neoptera Endopterygota Siphonaptera
Latreille, 1825

Infraorders

Ceratophyllomorpha Hystrichopsyllomorpha Pulicomorpha Pygiopsyllomorpha


Synonyms

Aphaniptera

Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals (including bats and humans) and birds. Some flea species include:

Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis) Human flea (Pulex irritans) Moorhen flea Dasypsyllus gallinulae Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus) Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)

Over 2,000 species have been described worldwide.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1 Morphology and behavior 2 Life cycle and habitat 3 Classification 4 Relationship with host o 4.1 Direct effects of bites o 4.2 As a vector 5 Flea treatments o 5.1 For humans o 5.2 For pets o 5.3 For the home 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Morphology and behavior

Diagram of a Flea

Fleas are small (1/16 to 1/8-inch (1.5 to 3.3 mm) long), agile, usually dark colored (for example, the reddish-brown of the cat flea), wingless insects with tube-like mouth-parts adapted to feeding on the blood of their hosts. Their legs are long, the hind pair well adapted for jumping: a flea can jump vertically up to 7 inches (1.8 m) and horizontally up to 13 inches (3.3 m).[3] This is around 200 times their own body length, making the flea one of the best jumpers of all known animals (relative to body size), second only to the froghopper. According to an article in Science News [4], "researchers with the University of Cambridge in England have shown that fleas take off from their tibiae and tarsi the insect equivalent of feet and not their trochantera, or knees. The researchers report their conclusion in the March 1 Journal of Experimental Biology." It has been known that fleas do not use muscle power but energy stored in a protein named resilin but the researchers used high-speed video technology and mathematical models to discover where the spring action actually happens. Their bodies are laterally compressed (human anatomical terms), permitting easy movement through the hairs or feathers on the host's body (or in the case of humans, under clothing). The flea body is hard, polished, and covered with many hairs and short spines directed backward,[5] which also assist its movements on the host. The tough body is able to withstand great pressure, likely an adaptation to survive attempts to eliminate them by mashing or scratching. Even hard squeezing between the fingers is normally insufficient to kill a flea. It is possible to eliminate them by pressing individual fleas with adhesive tape or softened beeswax (or "cheese" wax) or by rolling a flea briskly between the fingers to disable it then crushing it between the fingernails. Fleas also can be drowned in water and may not survive direct contact with anti-flea pesticides.

Hooke's drawing of a flea in Micrographia

Fleas lay tiny white oval-shaped eggs better viewed through a loupe. The larva is small, pale, has bristles covering its worm-like body, lacks eyes, and has mouthparts adapted to chewing. The larvae feed on various organic matter, especially the feces of mature fleas. The adult flea's diet consists solely of fresh blood.[6] In the pupal phase, the larva is enclosed in a silken, debris-covered cocoon.

[edit] Life cycle and habitat


Fleas are holometabolous insects, going through the four life cycle stages of egg, larva, pupa, and imago (adult). The flea life cycle begins when the female lays after feeding. Adult fleas must feed on blood before they can become capable of reproduction.[5] Eggs are laid in batches of up to 20 or so, usually on the host itself, which means that the eggs can easily roll onto the ground. Because of this, areas where the host rests and sleeps become one of the primary habitats of eggs and developing fleas. The eggs take around two days to two weeks to hatch.[3]

Micrograph of a flea larva.

Fleas pass through a complete life cycle consisting of egg, larva, pupa and adult. A typical flea population consists of 50% eggs, 35% larvae, 10% pupae and 5% adults. Completion of

the life cycle from egg to adult varies from two weeks to eight months depending on the temperature, humidity, food, and species. Normally after a blood meal, the female flea lays about 45 to 50 eggs per day up to 600 in a lifetime usually on the host (dogs, cats, rats, rabbits, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes, chickens, humans, etc.). Eggs loosely laid in the hair coat, drop out most anywhere especially where the host rests, sleeps or nests (rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, cat or dog boxes, kennels, sand boxes, etc.). Eggs hatch in two days to two weeks into larvae found indoors in floor cracks & crevices, along baseboards, under rug edges and in furniture or beds. Outdoor development occurs in sandy gravel soils (moist sand boxes, dirt crawlspace under the house, under shrubs, etc.) where the pet may rest or sleep. Sand and gravel are very suitable for larval development which is the reason fleas are erroneously called "sand fleas." Larvae are blind, avoid light, pass through three larval instars and take a week to several months to develop. Their food consists of digested blood from adult flea feces, dead skin, hair, feathers, and other organic debris. (Larvae do not suck blood.) Pupa mature to adulthood within a silken cocoon woven by the larva to which pet hair, carpet fiber, dust, grass cuttings, and other debris adheres. In about five to fourteen days, adult fleas emerge or may remain resting in the cocoon until the detection of vibration (pet and people movement), pressure (host animal lying down on them), heat, noise, or carbon dioxide (meaning a potential blood source is near). Most fleas overwinter in the larval or pupal stage with survival and growth best during warm, moist winters and spring. Adult fleas cannot survive or lay eggs without a blood meal, but may live for one year without feeding. There is often a desperate need for flea control after a family has returned from a long vacation. The house has been empty with no cat or dog around for fleas to feed on. When the family and pets are gone, flea eggs hatch and larvae pupate. The adult fleas fully developed inside the pupal cocoon remains in a kind of "limbo" for a long time until a blood source is near. The family returning from vacation is immediately attacked by waiting hungry hordes of fleas. (In just 30 days, 10 female fleas under ideal conditions can multiply to over a quarter million different life stages.) Newly emerged adult fleas live only about one week if a blood meal is not obtained. However, completely developed adult fleas can live for several months without eating, so long as they do not emerge from their puparia. Optimum temperatures for the flea's life cycle are 70F to 85F and optimum humidity is 70%.
[7]

[edit] Classification

Cat flea

Fleas are related to mecoptera,[8] winged insects with good eyesight. The flightless boreid (snow scorpionfly) with its rudimentary wings seems to be close to the common ancestor of the 2000 or so known varieties of flea, which split off in many directions around 160 million years ago.[8] Their evolution continued to produce adaptations for their specialized parasitic niche, such that they now have no wings and their eyes are covered over. The large number of flea species may be attributed to the wide variety of host species they feed on, which provides so many specific ecological niches to adapt to. In the past, it was most commonly supposed that fleas had evolved from the flies (Diptera), based on similarities of the larvae. (Some authorities use the name Aphaniptera because it is older, but names above family rank need not follow the ICZN rules of priority, so most taxonomists use the more familiar name). Genetic and morphological evidence indicates that they are descendants of the Scorpionfly family Boreidae, which are also flightless; accordingly it is possible that they will eventually be reclassified as a suborder within the Mecoptera. In any case, all these groups seem to represent a clade of closely related insect lineages, for which the names Mecopteroidea and Antliophora have been proposed. Flea systematics are not entirely fixed. While, compared to many other insect groups, fleas have been studied and classified fairly thoroughly, details still remain to be learned about the evolutionary relationships among the different flea lineages.

Infraorder Pulicomorpha o Superfamily Pulicoidea Family Hectopsyllidae sticktight and chigoe fleas ("chiggers" of Latin America) Family Pulicidae common fleas o Superfamily Malacopsylloidea Family Malacopsyllidae Family Rhopalopsyllidae hosts Family Vermipsyllidae hosts: carnivores o Superfamily Coptopsylloidea Family Coptopsyllidae o Superfamily Ancistropsylloidea Family Ancistropsyllidae

Infraorder Pygiopsyllomorpha o Superfamily Pygiopsylloidea Family Lycopsyllidae Family Pygiopsyllidae Family Stivaliidae Infraorder Hystrichopsyllomorpha o Superfamily Hystrichopsylloidea Family Hystrichopsyllidae hosts: rats and mice. Includes Ctenopsyllidae, Amphipsyllidae Family Chimaeropsyllidae o Superfamily Macropsylloidea Family Macropsyllidae o Superfamily Stephanocircidoidea Family Stephanocircidae

[edit] Relationship with host

Flea bites on the back of a human

Flea bite on the waist of a human with no reaction

Fleas attack a wide variety of warm-blooded vertebrates including dogs, cats, humans, chickens, rabbits, squirrels, rats, ferrets, and mice.
[edit] Direct effects of bites Main article: Pulicosis

Fleas (Parasite) are not only a nuisance to humans and their pets, but can cause medical problems including flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), secondary skin irritations and, in extreme cases, anemia, tapeworms, stomach flu. Fleas can transmit murine typhus (endemic typhus) fever among animals and from animal to humans. Also, fleas can transmit bubonic plague and any other disease from human to rodent and from rodent to humans. Tapeworms normally infest in humans in severe cases. Although bites are rarely felt, it is the resulting irritation caused by the flea salivary secretions that varies among individuals. Some may witness a severe reaction (general rash or inflammation) resulting in secondary infections caused by scratching the irritated skin area. Others may show no reaction or irritation acquired after repeated bites over several weeks or months. Most bites usually found on the ankles and legs may cause irritation or pain lasting a few minutes, hours or days depending on one's sensitivity. The typical reaction to the bite is the formation of a small, hard, red, slightly raised (swollen) itching spot. There is a single puncture point in the center of each spot. (Ants and spiders leave two marks when they bite. Mosquitoes, bees, wasps and bedbugs cause a large swelling or welt.)[9]:126
[edit] As a vector

Besides the problems posed by the creature itself, fleas can also act as a vector for disease. Fleas transmit not only a variety of viral, bacterial and rickettsial diseases to humans and other animals, but also protozoans and helminths.[10]:7273

bacteria: Murine or endemic typhus.[9]:124 Fleas have helped cause epidemics by transmitting diseases such as the bubonic plague between rodents and humans by carrying Yersinia pestis bacteria.[11] Fleas can transmit Yersinia pestis, Rickettsia typhi, Rickettsia felis, and Bartonella henselae. virus: myxomatosis.[10]:73 helminth: infestation of Hymenolepiasis tapeworm.[12] protozoa: Trypanosome protozoans such as those of the subgenus Herpetosoma, use a variety of flea species opportunistically as vectors.[10]:74

Fleas that specialize as parasites on specific mammals may use other mammals as hosts; therefore humans are susceptible to the predation of more than one species of flea.[13]

[edit] Flea treatments


[edit] For humans

Fleas can become settled in a person's hair in less than ten minutes and cause soreness and itching. The itching associated with flea bites can be treated with anti-itch creams, usually antihistamines or hydrocortisone.[14] Calamine lotion has been shown to be effective for itching.[15]

[edit] For pets

Flea and tick repellant powder being applied to a dog

Modern flea control is approached using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocols at the host (pet) level. IPM is achieved by targeting fleas during at least two separate life stages, with at least two separate molecules. This is typically achieved using an adulticide to kill adult fleas and a insect development inhibitor (IDI), like lufenuron, or insect growth regulator (IGR), like methoprene, to prevent development of immature stages. Flea adults, larvae, or eggs can be controlled with insecticides. Lufenuron is a veterinary preparation (Program) that attacks the larval flea's ability to produce chitin but does not kill fleas. Flea medicines need to be used with care because many of them, especially the, also affect mammals. Cedar oil, a non-toxic natural substance, has been proven effective in the eradication of infestations in pets. Cedar oil is being used to treat sand-flea infestation of US Military forces in the Gulf.[16] Since more than three quarters of a flea's life is spent somewhere other than on the host animal, it is not adequate to treat only the host; it is important also to treat the host's environment. Thorough vacuuming, washing linens in hot water, and treating all hosts in the immediate environment (the entire household, for example) are essential and if possible on a regular basis.[17] Contemporary commercial products for the topical treatment of flea infestations on pets contain pesticides such as imidacloprid, permethrin, and (S)-methoprene. All flea control products are recommended to be used at least half a year because the lifecycle of flea and tick can last to up to 6 months, and by using one of the flea and tick control products for so long, the infestation is highly prevented and, in the end, stopped. Although all these products are effective in fighting against flea and tick infestations, they have different active ingredients

and, because cats cannot metabolize some of the compounds of the product, care must be taken in their use.
[edit] For the home

Combating a flea infestation in the home takes patience because for every flea found on an animal, there could be many more developing in the home. A spot-on insecticide will kill the fleas on the pet and in turn the pet itself will be a roving flea trap and mop up newly hatched fleas. The environment should be treated with a fogger or spray insecticide containing an insect growth regulator, such as pyriproxyfen or methoprene to kill eggs and pupae, which are quite resistant against insecticides. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful, but the vacuum bag must be disposed of immediately afterwards.

Flea "dirt" in the fur of a cat is actually excess blood from the host consumed by the adult flea and passed as feces

Diatomaceous earth can also be used as a home flea treatment in lieu of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory treatments or insecticides which carry with them a risk of poisoning for both humans and animals. However, diatomaceous earth is at least potentially dangerous to pets and people when inhaled, so care in use is recommended. Dried pennyroyal has been suggested as a natural flea control,[18] but is not recommended in homes with pets due to its high toxicity to mammals.[19] Borax is sold as a "Natural Laundry Booster" and can also be used as another home treatment for flea infestations. Borax contains boric acid which kills fleas by dehydrating them, but its safety for pets is untested.[20] Using dehumidifiers with air conditioning and vacuuming all may interrupt the flea life cycle. Humidity is critical to flea survival. Eggs need relative humidity of at least 7075% to hatch, and larvae need at least 50% humidity to survive. In humid areas, about 20% of the eggs survive to adulthood; in arid areas, less than 5% complete the cycle.[21] Fleas thrive at higher temperatures, but need 70 to 90F (21 to 32C) to survive. Lower temperatures slow down or completely interrupt the flea life-cycle. A laboratory study done at the University of California showed that vacuuming catches about 96% of adult fleas. A combination of controlled humidity, temperature, and vacuuming should eliminate fleas from an environment, and altering even one of these environmental factors may be enough to drastically lower and eliminate an infestation.

Louse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Lice) Jump to: navigation, search "Lice" redirects here. For the infection, see Pediculosis. For the district of Diyarbakr Province in Turkey, see Lice, Turkey. For other uses, see Louse (disambiguation). Phthiraptera

Light micrograph of Fahrenholzia pinnata

Scientific classification Kingdom: Phylum: Class: Subclass: Animalia Arthropoda Insecta Pterygota

Infraclass: Order:

Neoptera Phthiraptera
Haeckel, 1896

Suborders

Anoplura Rhyncophthirina Ischnocera Amblycera Lice (singular: louse) is the common name for over 3000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents. They are obligate ectoparasites of every avian and mammalian order except for Monotremes (the platypus and echidnas), bats, whales, dolphins, porpoises and pangolins.

Contents
[hide]

1 Biology 2 Ecology o 2.1 A few major trends o 2.2 A few effects of lousiness upon the host 3 Classification 4 Lice in humans o 4.1 Human lice and DNA discoveries 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Biology
Most lice are scavengers, feeding on skin and other debris found on the host's body, but some species feed on sebaceous secretions and blood. Most are found only on specific types of animal, and, in some cases, only to a particular part of the body; some animals are known to host up to fifteen different species, although one to three is typical for mammals, and two to six for birds. For example, in humans, different species of louse inhabit the scalp and pubic hair. Lice generally cannot survive for long if removed from their host.[1] A louse's color varies from pale beige to dark gray; however, if feeding on blood, it may become considerably darker. Female lice are usually more common than the males, and some species are even known to be parthenogenetic. A louse's egg is commonly called a nit. Many lice attach their eggs to their host's hair with specialized saliva; the saliva/hair bond is very difficult to sever without specialized products. Lice inhabiting birds, however, may simply

leave their eggs in parts of the body inaccessible to preening, such as the interior of feather shafts. Living lice eggs tend to be pale white. Dead lice eggs are more yellow.[1] Lice are exopterygotes, being born as miniature versions of the adult, known as nymphs. The young moult three times before reaching the final adult form, which they usually reach within a month of hatching.[1]

Ecology
Lice are optimal model organisms to study the ecology of contagious pathogens since their quantities, sex-ratios etc. are easier to quantify than those of other pathogens. The ecology of avian lice have been studied more intensively than that of mammal lice.
A few major trends 1. The average number of lice per host tends to be higher in large-bodied bird species than in small ones.[2] 2. Louse individuals exhibit an aggregated distribution across bird individuals, i.e. most lice live on a few bird, while most birds are relatively free of lice. This pattern is more pronounced in territorial than in colonial more social bird species.[3] 3. Host taxa that dive under the water surface to feed on aquatic prey harbour fewer taxa of lice.[4][5] 4. Bird taxa that are capable to exert stronger antiparasitic defense such as stronger T cell immune response or larger uropygial glands harbour more taxa of Amblyceran lice than others.[6][7] 5. Temporal bottlenecks in host population size may couse a long-lasting reduction of louse taxonomic richness.[8] E.g., birds introduced into New Zealand host fewer species of lice there than in Europe.[9][10] 6. Louse sex ratios are more balanced in more social hosts and more female-biased in less social hosts, presumably due to the stronger isolation among louse subpopulations (living on separate birds) in the latter case.[11] A few effects of lousiness upon the host 1. Lice may reduce host life expectancy.[12] 2. Lice may transmit microbial diseases or helminth parasites.[13] 3. Ischnoceran lice may reduce the thermoregulation effect of the plumage, thus heavily infected birds loss more heat than other ones.[14] 4. Lousiness is a disadvantage in the context of sexual rivalry.[15][16]

Classification
The order has traditionally been divided into two suborders, the sucking lice (Anoplura) and the chewing lice (Mallophaga); however, recent classifications suggest that the Mallophaga are paraphyletic and four suborders are now recognised:

Anoplura: sucking lice, occurring on mammals exclusively Rhyncophthirina: parasites of elephants and warthogs Ischnocera: mostly avian chewing lice, however, one family parasitize mammals

Amblycera: a primitive suborder of chewing lice, widspread on birds, however, also live on South-American And Australian mammals

It has been suggested that the order is contained by the Troctomorpha suborder of Psocoptera.

Lice in humans
For information about human infestation, see Pediculosis. For information on treatment, see Treatment of human head lice.

Humans host three different kinds of lice: head lice, body lice , and pubic lice. Lice infestations can be controlled with lice combs, and medicated shampoos or washes. Adult and nymphal lice can survive on sheep-shearers' moccasins for up to 10 days, but microwaving the footwear for five minutes in a plastic bag will kill the lice.[17]
Human lice and DNA discoveries

Lice have been the subject of significant DNA research that has led to discoveries on human evolution. For example, recent DNA evidence suggests that pubic lice spread to humans approximately 2,000,000 years ago from gorillas.[18] Additionally, the DNA differences between head lice and body lice provide corroborating evidence that humans started losing body hair, also about 2,000,000 years ago.[19]

Gallery

Damalinia limbata is an Ricinus bombycillae, an Trinoton anserinum, Ischnoceran louse from Amblyceran louse from an Amblyceran louse goats. The male is smaller the bohemian waxwing from a mute swan. than the female.

Diagram of a louse, by Robert Hooke, 1667.

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