Fleas
Siphonaptera
Fleas are small flightless insects that form the order Siphonaptera. As external parasites of mammals and birds, they live by consuming the blood of their hosts. Adults are up to about 3 mm (0.12 in) long and usually brown. Bodies flattened sideways enable them to move through their host's fur or feathers; strong claws prevent them from being dislodged. They lack wings, and have mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood and hind legs adapted for jumping....
21 branches of this order, most-observed first
Pulicoidea
superfamilyPulicoidea
Ceratophylloidea
superfamilyCeratophylloidea
Hystrichopsylloidea
superfamilyHystrichopsylloidea
Malacopsylloidea
superfamilyMalacopsylloidea
Ctenophthalmidae
familyCtenophthalmidae
Pygiopsyllidae
familyPygiopsyllidae
Macropsylloidea
superfamilyMacropsylloidea
Stephanocircidoidea
superfamilyStephanocircidoidea
Coptopsylloidea
superfamilyCoptopsylloidea
Chiastopsylla
genusChiastopsylla
Cryptopsylla
genusCryptopsylla
Praopsylla
genusPraopsylla
Hysophthalamus
genusHysophthalamus
Demeillonia
genusDemeillonia
Epirimia
genusEpirimia
Macroscelidopsylla
genusMacroscelidopsylla
Hypsophthalmus
genusHypsophthalmus
Pygiopsylloidea
superfamilyPygiopsylloidea
Ancistropsylloidea
superfamilyAncistropsylloidea
Saurophthirus
genusSaurophthirus
Stivaliidae
familyStivaliidae
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Siphonaptera in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 83204.