Bossard, R.L.; Lareschi, M.; Urdapilleta, M.; Cutillas, C.; Zurita, A. Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity. Diversity2023, 15, 1096.
Bossard, R.L.; Lareschi, M.; Urdapilleta, M.; Cutillas, C.; Zurita, A. Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity. Diversity 2023, 15, 1096.
Bossard, R.L.; Lareschi, M.; Urdapilleta, M.; Cutillas, C.; Zurita, A. Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity. Diversity2023, 15, 1096.
Bossard, R.L.; Lareschi, M.; Urdapilleta, M.; Cutillas, C.; Zurita, A. Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity. Diversity 2023, 15, 1096.
Abstract
This overview of extant Siphonaptera lists 19 families with major hosts and general distribution, estimated numbers of genera, species, and subspecies, with a brief taxonomic and phylogenetic review. With around 10 new species described annually, global flea fauna has an estimated extant 249 genera, 2215 species, and 714 subspecies, mostly mammal parasites but 5% of species are on birds. Host specificity varies from euryxenous (i.e. infesting two or more host orders)(e.g. cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis) to monoxenous (e.g. rabbit fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi) . The largest family is the paraphyletic Hystrichopsyllidae, making up a third of all flea species. The largest monophyletic family, Ceratophyllidae (rodent and bird fleas), comprise another 20%, and has dispersed to every continent including Antarctica. Fleas descend from scorpionflies (Mecoptera), possibly snow scorpionflies (Boreidae) or Nannochoristidae, and even giant fossils found from the Mesozoic could be Siphonaptera. Flea diversification shows evidence of taxon cycles: "Relict" families such as helmet fleas (Stephanocircidae) have a disjunct distribution reflecting the breakup of Gondwanaland, 70 million years ago. "Niche specialists" include nest fleas (Anomiopsyllus), bat fleas (Ischnopsyllidae), and burrowing fleas, the chigoes (Tungidae). By contrast, Ceratophyllidae fleas could be considered "great speciators". Cat fleas and several other synanthropic flea species are invasive "supertramps". Although those species are intensively studied, many flea species and their hosts require urgent surveys and conservation.
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
