Proceedings, 1935 11

A CHECK LIST OF THE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH A NOTE ON FLEAS IN RELATION TO SAWDUST IN HOMES

By C. J. S pencer

As far as 1 can determine fro m a check o f publi shed li sts of o f this Provin ce. the only mention of loca l F leas is a short li st of s ix species, apparently contributed by the energetic secretary of our Society at that time, Capt. R. V. Harvey. The li st was published in the (then) Bulletin of the British Columbia E ntom ological Society, Q uarterly, Sep­ tember, 1907, No.7. The fo lloll'ing specIes a re mentioned:

1. Pulex irritans Linn. 2. Ctenocephalus canis Curtis. (On cats and dogs) . 3. gallinae Schra nk. (On poultry). 4. C. Charlottensis Baker. ( In a m ouse nest ). 5. C. keeni Baker.(On Perom yscus keeni ) . G. C. perpinnatus Baker. That is the bare li st, without locality o r coll ector 's records. If the fir st record, that o f the huma n , is auth entic, then our later records of this in sect in our midst must be antedated by sel'era l years and a long -existing fear of mine that this in sect may assume plague pro por­ tion s in Vancou ver if it gets established, may be laid at rest . If Har vey found it here 27 years ago a nd it is still of very spasm odi c occurrence, then we m ay have no furt her fear o f its beco111ing general. It is very unfortunate that Harvey did not g il'e any further details about his records or s tate where his material was placed. For the past s ix years I hal'e coll ected fleas as wcll as o ther ext er­ na l parasites of birds and ma mmals of this Pro vince and it g ives m e pleasure to present herewith a ~eco nd a nd som ewhat longer li st of these insects tha n was contributed b y Han·ey. Many of them are of m y collect in g . but I gratefully acknowledge contributions from tha t m ost faithful a nd energetic coll ector , M r. R. A. Cumming of this city, as well as fro111 Messr s. E. R. Buckel !. the late E ri c Hearie, Hug h Leech. K. Racey and D r. M. Y . William s. I am indebted to four of 111 y students, l\Iessrs. A rkwright, McHug h , P oole and Tho mkinsoll for certain assis­ tance in connectio n lV ith the experimental feed in g of larvae. Most especially do I gratefull y acknowledge the kindness of Dr. Julius Wag ner, o f B elgrade. Y ugo S lavia . for having undertaken the lahoriou s task of checking ove r my specilllens and na ming thclIl fur Ill C. a nd uf Dr. Karl J ordan (If the l\ J l1 Se UIlJ at T ring I'm send in g I11C the li ,; t o f 13.C . 12 B. C. Entomological Society fl eas in his possessio n na med hy Lord Rothschild and hy himself. Se\'era l of those I sent Dr, \V agner arc ncw t() :-;c icncc a nd he ha,; not yet had t im e to describe t he 11l a nd puhli :-; h hi s descripti o n ,;. " ' hen thi,; is do ne I sha ll suhmit t o you a :-; upple lll entary li ,; t \\'hi ch \\' ill include other and further ,;pecim ens \\' hich 1 ha\e coll ected in the la :-; t t\\'O years and ha\'e not yet sent hi m, Dr. \;\fagner tell:; m e that it ,; ho11 1d not be taken for g ra nted that anyone small m ammal carri e:; on ly o ne specie,; of flea o r tha t it carries the sam e specie:; in a ll par t:; ()( the country, He say,; that a m amma l may carry at least two ,; pec ies of (l ea ,; . a nd he \\ould particularly like to see all coll ectio ns tha t may he made (rum birc\:.; because bird fl ea,; are la rgely untouched. vVith regard to the co ll ect in g of t hese in sect". I Illay say that the nests o f birds and a re usual ly the best sources of fleas. a l­ tho ugh m amm als like sq ui rrels and marmot:; may carry \ery large numbers on their bodies in additio n to tho:;e remaining in their nests. I wo uld particularly urge the member s of this Society to keep fo r m e. a ll nests of birds and s mall mamma],.; tha t t hey cO lll e acro:;s, putting them in paper bags secure ly fa stened o r t ied, If y o u scoop up every last trace of du:; t a nd tras h under t he n ests. you \\'ill be sure to get eggs and lan-ae of fl ea:; in the mess. a nd if these a re kept at norma l room temperature in summer, the la r vae w ill comple te t heir development a nd wi ll c \'entually emerge as ad ul ts, The list sublllitted herewith contai ns 61 species, of \Y hi ch 25 species are recorded from 34 and possibly 3S hosts, Yo u wi ll no te t hat nine o f o ur local b irds sha re one species of fl ea. sha red also by their (pro­ bald y) common enem y . the reel ::: quirrel, w hil e the visitor to our land, the J apanesc starling. has apparently it s own (lea \\'hi ch it g uards jealo u ::; ly a nd so far as 1 have fo und, has s hared w ith no other bird, In addition to t his item , YO ll \Yi ll no te severa l interesting relationshi ps apparently of host and victim; t hus t he same fl ea has been found on the weasel and the red a nd I m yself have seen the ease and remarka ble speed w ith w hi ch the wea::;e l call catch a nd overpower the red squ irrcl : the \\'c,bel share::: another specie::; of fl ea w ith the pika and t he pack rat, both of w hich it probably eats: the CO \11\11 on dog flea is shared by t he dog. the black fox a nd the tame rabbit: a m onkey im­ ported from Uganda apparen t ly got its flea fr om a dom estic cat ( m o nkeys g eneral ly s \varm with li ce a nd no t fleas and it is lice that une notes them chasin g so assiduous ly in t he park a nd crushing w ith their teeth) : yet a third flea cl oes the wease l share, this time w ith a pucket gopher : the ly nx a nd the snow-shoe rabbit share a di stin ct species : a nd fi na ll y, t he spotted skunk shares a species w ith the shrew. Some o f these. I imagine, a re temporary a nd accidenta l ; thu ::; it seems strange to r\1ld a hird [lea li \'ing fo r lung 0 11 a sq uirrel and ,,;e \'eral Proceedings, 1935 13 uf the ut hers m ake !1l e think that either one or t he other host 1 ha \'e men ti oned is the true host. a nd the second is temporary. I n fact, the s tudy opens the II'ay to half a dozen poin ts of g reat in terest whi ch can .o nly be ::io h ed by furt her a nd m uch larg er coll ections. Records of Fleas from British Columbia up to November 1935. T he ::; pecies with hust li sts upposite are in t he coll ections o f the Uni versity (U.U.C.) and haH bee n named by Dr. J . vVagner of Bel­ g rade. T hose II'ithout host li s t:-; are in the coll ecti ons of t he Lord R oths­ ch ild Museu m at T ring. I ~ n g l and . Those wi th asterisks are in both coll ections : Hoplopsyllus glacialis lynx Uaker 1904. Hoplopsyllus glacialis Tasch. U.B.C. ly nx; snow-shoe rabbit. Opisodasys vesperalis J ord. 1929. *Opisodasys keeni Baker 1896. U.B. C. P eromyscus sp. *Orchopeas (Bakerella) caedens durus .l ord. 1929. U.B.C. Weasel ; red squirrel. Orchopeas (Bakerella) nepos R oths. 1905 . *Orchopeas (Bakerella) sexdentatus ag ili s R oths. 1905 . U.B.c. W easel; Pack rat; Pika. Tarsopsylla coloradensis Baker 1895. Thrassis petiolatus Baker 1904. *Thrassis acamantis l{oths. 1905 . U .B. C. Marmot ; Vanc. Is. Marmot; Columbia g rou nd squi rrel. Oropsylla idahoensis Uaker 1904 ( = poeantis R ot hs. 1905 ) . ':' Oropsylla arctomys Bake r. U.B.e. Black Marmot . :;' Foxella ignotus recula J ord &. Ruth,; . 1915. U.B. c. W easel ; P ocket g opher. Dactylopsylla comis J ord. 1929. Ceratophyllus diffinis J ord. 1925. *Ceratophyllus niger niger pox 1908. U.B. c. J apanese starling. Ceratophyllus adustus Jo rd. 1932. Ceratophyllus idius J orel. &. R ot hs. 1n O. Ceratophyllus riparius J on 1. &. Rut h ,; . 1920. Ceratophyllus celsus celsus Jo re1. 1926. *Dasypsyllus gallinulae perpinnatus Uaker 1904. C .Re. Ulack capped chicadee, J unco. R usset-backed t hrush. Blue Ja y, A laska hermit , t hrush, Red squi rrel. O regon to\\·hce. Black headed grosbeck, \ J\f est­ ern tanager . Nest o f Cassin's vireu. Malaraeus te1chinum R oths. 1903. Malaraeus penicilliger Grube 1852. Malaraeus euphorbi R ot hs. 1905. Malaraeus bitterootensis D unn 6: Parker 1923 ( = isus J onl. 1925 ) . Megabothris abantis Hoths. 1905. "' Megabothris asio Raker. U. II. C. l\ ]u lI se nest. sp. un identi Fied. 1-1- B. C. Entomological Society

Megabothris quirini j\ oths. 1905. Megabothris megacolpu:, J ord. 1929. *Monopsyllus eumolpi eumolpi I\ oths. 1905. C .U. C Chipmunk. *Monopsyllus ciliatus protinus J ord. 19.2(). U.U.C Squirrel. chi pmunk. "'Monopsyllus vison vison Baker 1904. U. B.C Red squirrel. *Monopsyllus wagneri wagneri Ba ker 1904. U .B.C.iVIou:se (Peromyscus) . Ctenophyllus terribilis Roth,;. 1903. Leptopsylla ravalliensis Dunn & Parker 1923. Leptopsylla selenis Huth,; . 1906. *Neopsylla grandis Roth;;. C.B.C L yster chi pmunk. Quebec. *Neopsylla fasciatus Bose. U.B.C Norway rat Neopsylla wenmanni Roth,;. 1904. Catallagia charlottensis Uaker Itl98. Catallagia decipiens R oth,;. 19 15. Catallagia telegoni R oth ,; . 1905. Rhadinopsylla fraterna Baker 1895. "' Rhadinopsylla sectilis J orel. & R oths. 1923. U .B.C Mouse ( Peromy:sc u :s) . Nearctopsylla hyrtaci R oth,;. 1904. N earctopsylla brooksi R oth,; . 1904. "' H ystrichopsylla dippiei l~ o th,;. 1900. U.B.C Spotted :s kunk. nest of :s hrew. house at Nana illlU . Atyphloceras artius J urd. 1933. Callistopsyllus terinus Roths. 1905 . Ctenocephalides canis Curt. C.B.C 131ack fox. dog, tame rabbit. Ctenocephalides felis Bouch. U.I3.C Cat. Uganda m onkey. Pulex irritans Linn. U.B.C Man. Megarthroglossus divisus Uaker 1898. Megarthroglossus longispinus Baker. C.B.C Pika. Megarthroglossus procus . .lord &: H.oth;;. 19 15. Megarthroglossus sicamus J urd & Roths. 19 16. Megarthroglossus senisles Wag ner 1935. U.B. C Megarthroglossus spenceri \V agner 1935. U .B.e. *Trichopsylla (Chaetopsylla) setosus Roth",. 1906. U.B.e. Gri zzly bear. Myodopsylla gentilis J ord. & Roths. 1921. Rhinolophopsylla palposus Roths. L' .B.C Big brO\\"Il bat. Concerning the occurrence o f fleas in sawdust, a considerable num­ ber of househuld ers h;l\'c made loud cU I11 plai nl to m e. [had had two rcports and doubted the a uthenticity of the identification uf the insects, II' hen 1\1r. \V. G. :'Iathers asked Ill e about the situation. In the last two years. repor t:; have com e in from hom es sm a ll and large, and fr 0 111 a flrl1l which docs a gcner;)l cleaning-up and fu migatin g bu,;iness. In most case:,. I"here a :--all"(lu ,;t burner has heen in :i ta ll ecl and the dog and Proceedings, 1935 15 cat of the household sleep in the basement, these an imals like to make beds for themselves in the ,;awd ust and there somehow ari ses a veri­ table plague of cat or dog fleas _ . \ t times these plagues have arisen \\-hen there are 11 0 dom esti c ::;; in such cases the flea s have obviously com e in \I-ith the sawdust in which stray must have been sleepin g for som e time before deli ve ry in to that particular house­ hold _ ] n no case have 1 bee n able to get specim ens from the complain­ ants, althoug h sev eral enquiries came in only last autumn. In one case onl y did I get a portion of a fl ea broug ht in by a commercial exterminator froll1 a Shaug hnessy hom e where they had no sawdust burner but had experienced an outbreak of fl eas _ The "portion" of flea had been P . irritans L., the human Rea_ N ow fl ea larvae are supposed to feed on minute organ ic particles in dust and especially on the faeces of adult fleas which m ay contain practically pure bl ood passed throug h the diges tive tract with little change ot her tha n being dried. If this is the case, then the food of this type contained in the sawdust must either be exceeding ly abundant or a chance disposition has placed it in the bags of sawdust w here it can be reached by the lan-ae after it has been dumped into cell ars. It is unlikely that there is anything in the actual particles of the wood that the lar vae can fe ed upon, unless there is some further very neces­ sary work to be done upon the bio logy of the cat and the dog fl ea_ The w hole situation necds very careful checking up, but for some reason or other those trou bled w ith outbreaks of fleas which they blame upon the sawdust, never report the matter until the outbreak has died down, when they can never flnd specimens_ Personally, I question there being any food material w hatever for fl ea larvae in sawdust, but from the fact that enormous numbers of fleas have been cropping up \I-ithin recent years, sin ce sawdus t burners haye become popular in this city, and that these o u tbreaks ha\-e occurred, with one exception, 111 hom es where this type of fu el is being used, there certainly secms to be som e connection between the two_ Apart from the annoyance o f the uutbreak at the time, the situa­ tion needs in vestigation on account of the reported longevity of fleas. vVhile conditions in Vancou ver m ay not be optimum for these insects, the foll ow in g tables of longe\-ity g i\-e us fo od for thought in case these outbreaks becom e m ore frequent and o f reg ul ar occurrence_ Bishopp g ives t he complete life cycle of t he cat flea on the A tlantic Coast as 2-4 weeks and that of a human flea on the Pacific Coast as 9-11 weeks_ Bacot and D igewood in 1914 pu bli shed in Parasitology, much informatio n on [h e lar vae (J f fleas_ They show that in cool. damp cl imate::; , ileas li ve m uch lung er tha n ill hot, dry ones ; also that fleas can li\-e a long tim e as is shO\\"I1 belo w_ 16 B. C. Entomological Society

F ed Unfed Pulex irritans, the human flea ...... 513 days 125 days C. fasciatus, the E uropean rat flea . 106 days 95 days Xenopsylla cheopsis, Indian rat flea ...... 100 days 3~ days Ctenocephalus canis, dog flea 234 days 58 days C. gallinae, the hen flea ...... 354 days 127 days

Bacot also shows that even when fed at irreg ular period5, fleas can li ve for really astonishing perio ds.

H e records the fo ll owing Ceratophy llus fasciatus 22 months Pulex irritans 19 months Xenopsyll a cheopsis ... 10 months Ctenocephalus canis 18 months

I canllot s tate at w hat infrequent intervals Bacot fed hi s fleas to get them to li ve so long, but J fe el certain that no fleas could exist under our summer or wi nter conditions for as many weeks as he has here recorded for m onths. I have bred fox fleas in m y laboratory from a mass of rubbish coll ected from their nests in fo x-farm huildings and obtained a cubic centimetre of adults, not one of which li ved without an initial feed, for two w eeks, let alone two months or still less, eighteen months. A lso I have kept in test tubes in a darkened corner of the laboratory, some recently fed fleas removed from cats, without damage, and the longest I could keep any of them alive was one week. This does not m ean that in a basement full of sawdust which could provide the conditions suited to the development of fl eas, said fleas could not survi ve for several months without a fe ed fr 0111 their particular host; I merely state that I haven't been able to keep them alive. That flea larvae certainly can survive ad verse conditions, I determined this winter w hen I watched a batch hatch from eggs dropped from a cat on to a ve lour-topped chair; the eggs hatched vvithin one week and to test their powers of endurance I sat on that chair for an hour (apart from others who may have sat on it unknowll t u m e) and found the larvae still well and ki cking. 1 r egret that my di slike of the creatures kept me from further observations and J cles troyed the broocl.

Later Note. November 1935.

This autumn I conducted certain experiments on the development of fl eas. I returned in mid-September after an absence of 30 months to find the basem ent and the sawdust bin, literally ali\" e with cat fleas. People who occvpied the house during the absence of our family had been sever!), hitten but we re treating them selves for hi ves. T did not enlighten them Proceedings, 1935 17

Many life-history experim ent:-; Il'ere conducted during October. Cat flea s are so prolific that one half cubic centimetre o f flea eggs may I)e collected off one cat and fro1l1 ib hcel. in a twch 'e hour period. Eggs of a known age in h(J ur:; . Il'cre placed on the foll owing substances in big g lass-topped tin can,;: plain floor dust, dust and fluff from under beds, dust and fluff from pockeb of woolen coah, dust fr0111 door jambs in public buildings. dust and tra,; h fro l11 cab and dogs beds, pure culture of dried blood dropping:; frum fl ea,;. \'ery dry fir sawdust, damp fir sawdust. cedar sall'du ,,; t a nd finally , eggs, dry blood and trash fro m animals' beds, placed above dry fir sawdust and above damp fir sawdust. The last combination of egg,;, trash, bl ood and damp sawdust pro- duced a 100% hatch and a huge crop of adult fleas in 31 days from time of egg-laying, the tin being placed among others on my o ffice table. All other combinations fail ed to produce adults although in some, the larvae li ved until nearly mature. No development at all occurs on cedar sawdust. My experiments indicated that fleas cannot develop on pure dry or damp fir sawdust, cedar sawdust, on pure flea faeces of blood, on pure dry room dust or on ordinary dry house dust mixed with wool dust. Apparently dry bl ood. dust and trash ( roo111 dust is a very com­ plex substance) in a certain degree of moisture, are essential for their development. A fter no more flea eggs II' ere required tor experiments, the house was completely cleared of the fl eas by the follow in g m easures: l. SIY'eeping up every trace of du~t on the floor and under the cats and dogs beds. 2, The animals' bedding II'as thoroughly washed. 3. Cats and the dog were used as bait. the dog especially pro\'ing a wonderful trap. O ne ounce of pyrethrum per cat and two ounces per dog g reatl y reduced each infestati on. Better by far was a dessert spoon full of derris powder per dog and half that amount for a cat which entirely freed each animal when left on them overnig ht. Pyrethrum cau:;es choking' and som e inHa11l1l1ation uf mucous m embranes ; derris doe,; not irritate, Keither pc)\\'der harm:; the :; kin. 4. A very thin dusting of derri:; around t he ec1ge~ of the sal\'Clu st pi le. kills all stage,; o f fl eas.