Hedgehog flea
| Hedgehog flea | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Archaeopsylla erinacei | ||||||||||||
| ( Bouché , 1835) |
The hedgehog flea ( Archaeopsylla erinacei ) is a wingless ectoparasite of the order of the fleas (Siphonaptera). It is adapted to the brown-breasted hedgehog native to Europe , but can occasionally also be found on other mammals such as fox, dog and cat or sometimes even on humans.
morphology
The hedgehog flea has a laterally compressed body of a brownish color. The males reach a size of 2.5 mm, for the females different sources give a body length of 3 mm or 4 mm (soaked with blood). The fleas have a so-called head comb (Genalctenidium) made up of two or three small conical teeth. Another tooth is located on the lower rear edge of the antennae. In addition, their fore-chest ring has a back crest (pronotalctenidium) made up of up to three spines on each side.
The rearmost of his three pairs of legs is particularly strong. It is not only able to move around in the host animal's hair, but can also jump over longer distances with its jump legs.
Way of life
While the imagines (adult fleas) feed on the blood of the hedgehog, the larvae take the droppings of the adults to be containing undigested blood. Its saliva contains anticoagulants to prevent blood clotting.
The hedgehog flea can transmit infectious diseases and is therefore one of the hygiene pests. In addition, the anticoagulants that penetrate the skin in a flea bite can trigger allergic reactions that lead to itchy inflammations.
The flea can be found on almost all hedgehogs, mainly on the front chest, front legs and stomach. Up to 1000 fleas can sit on a young hedgehog. In such a case, the fleas can stress an already weakened hedgehog so much that it dies as a result of anemia .
Diagnosis and control of hedgehogs
While flea infestation (siphonapteridosis) is normal in wild hedgehogs, it may be desirable to free hedgehogs from fleas that live in human care. An infestation can be recognized, for example, by blood spots that can be seen on a paper insert at the sleeping place. Flea droppings (small black dots) discolor paper red when moistened with water. If the infestation is severe, the brownish fleas can be seen on the face and between the spines.
All measures against hedgehog fleas should only be carried out if hedgehogs are sufficiently stable in terms of health. In the specialist literature you can sometimes read that experience has shown that it is best to use sprays against flea infestation on hedgehogs. There are various preparations with different active ingredients and tolerability available on the market, but these are often not specifically intended for hedgehogs. In this context, a warning is given in particular against overdosing, which is life-threatening for the hedgehog. When spraying, cover the hedgehog's head and ventilate the room sufficiently.
Fleas can also be removed by bathing or carefully showering the hedgehog in lukewarm water, provided the hedgehog is sufficiently stable in terms of health for this stressful process. Another possibility is the use of flea powder, which can then be removed by bathing. In practice, the use of spot-on preparations is associated with a high risk for the hedgehog because they can easily be overdosed, which leads to the hedgehog's death.
Literature and individual references
- ^ Archaeopsylla erinacei - Classifications - Encyclopedia of Life. In: Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved November 14, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Dr. Martin Felke: Lexicon of pests - information. (No longer available online.) In: lexikon-der-schaedlinge.de. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016 ; accessed on November 14, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d e Dr. Martin Felke: Hedgehog flea Archaeopsylla erinacei. In: www.schaedlingskunde.de. Retrieved November 14, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d Josef Boch, Christian Bauer: Veterinary Parasitology . Georg Thieme Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-8304-4135-9 , Siphonapteridose, p. 657 ( google.de [accessed on November 14, 2016]).
- ↑ Carola Döpke: Case analysis of the examinations of hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in the material submitted by the Institute for Pathology from 1980 to 2001 . Inaugural dissertation to obtain the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Dr. med. Vet.) By the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Ed .: Institute for Pathology at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Hannover 2002, 2.5.1.2.1 Flöhe, p. 27 .
- ↑ a b c d Tanja Wrobbel, Monika Neumeier, Dora Lambert, Ulli Seewald: Hedgehogs in the veterinary practice . Ed .: Pro Igel eV (= Igel knowledge compact ). 6th edition. Lindau / B. 2015, ISBN 978-3-940377-13-5 , 5.1.1 Flea infestation, p. 44–49 ( pro-igel.de [PDF; 3.3 MB ]).