dog flea
ctenocephalides canis latin

Dog fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of dogs.

The dog flea is troublesome because it can spread Dipylidium caninum.

The dog flea's mouthparts are adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood.

The primary cause of dog fleas is the saliva of fleas that irritates dog's skin.

Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis)

This characteristic can be used to differentiate the oriental rat flea from the cat flea, dog flea, and other fleas.

It provides precision, 'flea' being too vague and potentially confused with other types of flea, such as the dog flea, or (disaster!) the water flea.

There are several types of fleas including the dog flea, cat flea, human flea, northern rat flea, and the oriental rat flea.

The dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis) is a species of flea that lives as a ectoparasite on a wide variety of mammals, particularly the domestic dog and cat.

The dog flea acts as an intermediate host for the larvae of the common tapeworm, Dipylium caninum which makes it even more vital that flea infestations should be controlled.

The dog flea can be distinguished from the very similar cat flea by its head, which is anteriorly rounded rather than elongate, and the tibiae of its hind legs, which exhibit eight setae-bearing notches rather than six.