A modified flea feeding chamber technique was used that confined fleas but also allowed unhindered feeding directly on cats. A series of studies was conducted to determine the experimental parameters that would allow for optimal feeding at 5, 60 and 240 minutes. The Drabkin’s reagent method was used to determine the amount of whole blood consumed and excreted by adult fleas. Parameters evaluated included sex ratio, density, and flea age post-emergence. As each parameter was evaluated, the dynamics (i.e., sex ratio 1:2, 1:1, 2:1) that produced the steepest feeding rate over time were then used in each subsequent experiment Baseline levels of hemoglobin were also tested on unfed fleas. We discovered that newly emerged unfed fleas gave a positive reaction of the Drabkin’s method, most likely hemoglobin carried over from the larval stage; it was calculated that each unfed flea had the equivalent of 0.0660 uL of whole blood. Analysis of male and female fleas showed that ten male and ten female fleas exposed to cats for five minutes indicated to have each fed on 0.0693 and 0.1416, respectively; whereas, ten male and ten female fleas exposed to cats for 240 minutes had values each of 0.1778 and 0.7440, respectively. The ratio of blood consumed and excreted by females to that of males increased significantly as a function of time; probably due to the greater consumption of blood by females to provide blood for larval consumption in the form of feces (mainly as partially undigested blood).
Species 1: Siphonaptera Pulicidae Ctenocephalides felis (cat flea)
Keywords: blood feeding
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