Northern rat flea

Northern rat flea
Male and female Nosopsyllus fasciatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Siphonaptera
Family:	Ceratophyllidae
Genus:	Nosopsyllus
Species:	N. fasciatus
Binomial name
Nosopsyllus fasciatus

The northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus) is a species of flea that is found on domestic rats and house mice. Northern rat fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of rodents. It is the most widely spread of its genus, having originated in Europe but which has been transported to temperate regions all over the world.^[1]

Description

Nosopsyllus fasciatus has an elongated body, 3 to 4 mm in length. It has a pronotal ctenidium with 18 to 20 spines (on the first thoracic tergite) but lacks a genal ctenidium. The northern rat flea has eyes and a row of three setae below it on the heads. Both sexes have a prominent tubercle on the front of the head. The hind femur has 3 to 4 bristles on the inner surface.^[1]

Pathology

Though the northern rat flea primarily parasitises the Norway rat Rattus norvegidus, it has occasionally been observed feeding on humans and wild rodents. It is a minor vector for plague and is known to be a host of the rat tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta in South America, Europe and Australia.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Wall, Richard; Shearer, David (1997). Veterinary entomology: arthropod ectoparasites of veterinary importance. Springer. pp. 493. ISBN 9780412615108. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=iWYjGPiW6D8C. 

This Flea related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Fleas Biting insects Insect stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Plains bison Northern rock sole Look at other dictionaries: northern rat flea — n a common and widely distributed flea of the genus Nosopsyllus (N. fasciatus) that is parasitic on rats and transmits murine typhus and possibly plague …   Medical dictionary northern rat flea — noun : a common and widely distributed flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus) parasitic on rats …   Useful english dictionary rat flea — n any of various fleas that occur on rats: as a) NORTHERN RAT FLEA b) ORIENTAL RAT FLEA * * * any of various species of Nosopsyllus and Xenopsylla …   Medical dictionary Flea — Taxobox name = Flea image width = 200px image caption = Scanning electron microscope (SEM) depiction of a flea domain = Eukaryota regnum = Animalia phylum = Arthropoda classis = Insecta subclassis = Pterygota infraclassis = Neoptera superordo =… …   Wikipedia Black rat — Rattus rattus redirects here. For the album by Merzbow, see Rattus Rattus (album). Black rat Rattus rattus Conservation status …   Wikipedia Brown Rat — Taxobox name = Brown Rat status = LR/lc status system = iucn2.3 status ref =IUCN2006|assessors=Amori|year=1996|id=19353|title=Rattus norvegicus|downloaded=12 May 2006] regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Mammalia ordo = Rodentia familia …   Wikipedia Nosopsyllus — A flea genus commonly found on rodents. N. fasciatus, the northern rat flea, is a species that infrequently transmits the plague bacillus to humans. [noso + G. psylla, flea] * * * Nos·o·psyl·lus .näs ə sil əs n a genus of fleas that includes the… …   Medical dictionary Use of DNA in forensic entomology — Forensic science Physiological sciences …   Wikipedia nosopsyllus — ˌnäsəˈsiləs noun Usage: capitalized Etymology: New Latin, from nos + psyllus (from Greek psylla flea) more at psylla : a genus of fleas that includes the northern rat flea (N. fasciatus) …   Useful english dictionary Plague (disease) — Plague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis) . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents (most notably rats) and spread to humans via fleas. Plague is notorious throughout… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”