Abstract
A. H. AL-HUSSAINI, of the Department of Zoology, Farouk I University, Alexandria, has described, in a communication to the Editors, a simple trap for catching fleas. A plate of 7–8 mm. depth and not less than 20 cm. diameter is filled with soapy water; a one candle-power petroleum lamp, with a flat supporting base, is put in the middle of the plate. Fleas being thermotropic and thus attracted by the heat of the lamp, they jump towards it and fall into the plate, where they are rapidly 'drowned' in the soapy water. The great majority of fleas caught by this trap are females. Two possible interpretations to this high percentage of females can be offered: (1) the female seeks a hide to lay its eggs, and the hotter the hide the more favourable it is for hatching the eggs; (2) the numbers may indicate the natural ratio between the females and males in the human flea (Pulex irritans), which would thus be approximately 25:1.
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Trapping Fleas. Nature 156, 501 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/156501b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/156501b0