Proceedings, 1935 11 A CHECK LIST OF THE FLEAS 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 insects 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. Ceratophyllus 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 flea, 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 mammals 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 squirrel 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 ,; .