Effect of Temperature on Cat Flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) Development and Overwintering
Abstract
Cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché), were reared at different temperatures to examine further the effects on egg-to-adult development and emergence of adults from cocoons. Three different temperatures (26.7, 21.1, and 15.5 degrees C) were used to rear fleas. Emergence of adults from cocoons was monitored using 2 experimental designs-cocoons maintained in groups and cocoons individually isolated. At cooler temperatures, cocoons kept in groups had a higher incidence of late-emerging adults than did individual cocoons. At 15.5 degrees C, adults continued to emerge from grouped cocoons up to 80 d after all had emerged from individual cocoons. Developmental time of prepupae and pupae was determined by inhibiting cocoon formation of late 3rd instars. Male prepupae and pupae developed approximately 20% slower than did females. Comparisons between emergence of adults from cocoons and from naked pupae indicate that a large percentage of adults emerge from cocoons soon after molting. The possible association of developmental temperatures and emergence from cocoons with overwintering populations is discussed.
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Short winters permit survival of fleas, especially in the stage of quiescent adults inside the cocoon.
“This is particularly true because short winters permit survival of fleas, especially in the stage of quiescent adults inside the cocoon [73].”
From Fleas infesting pets in the era of emerging extra-intestinal nematodes (2013) · cites this paper as [73]
Until about fifteen years ago, cat fleas were considered to be rarely found on pets in cold seasons, but present weather changes characterized by shorter winters may have a potential effect on flea activity in the near future.
“Until about fifteen years ago, cat fleas were considered to be rarely found on pets in cold seasons [73], but the present weather changes characterized by shorter winters [74,75] may have a potential effect on flea activity in the near future.”
From Fleas infesting pets in the era of emerging extra-intestinal nematodes (2013) · cites this paper as [73]
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Krasnov, B. R., Khokhlova, I. S., Fielden, L. J., & Burdelova, N. V. (2001) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1603/0022-2585-38.5.629 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
“The quiescent adult within the cocoon has a lower respiratory demand than the emerged adult, and its survival is considerably longer under low humidity conditions (Silverman and Rust 1985, Metzger and Rust 1997).”
BackgroundMethodThe Biology and Ecology of Cat Fleas and Advancements in Their Pest Management: A Review
Rust, M. Κ. (2017) · Insects · doi:10.3390/insects8040118 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
“emerge as late as 155 days after egg deposition [131], clearly showing the importance of the pupal and pre-emerged adult stage in surviving adverse conditions.”
BackgroundSelf-citationEnergy cost of ectoparasitism: the fleaXenopsylla ramesison the desert gerbilGerbillus dasyurus
Khokhlova, I. S., Krasnov, B. R., Kam, M., et al. (2002) · Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1017/s0952836902001498 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Development rates of two Xenopsylla flea species in relation to air temperature and humidity
Krasnov, B. R., Khokhlova, I. S., Fielden, L. J., et al. (2001) · Medical and Veterinary Entomology · doi:10.1046/j.0269-283x.2001.00295.x · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Khokhlova, I. S., Spînu, M., Krasnov, B. R., & Degen, A. A. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.01090 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
“Fleas were obtained from our laboratory colonies started in 1998–2001 from field-collected specimens on M. crassus (X. c. mycerini and X. ramesis) and G. a. allenbyi (S. c. pyramidis) using rearing procedures similar to those described by Metzger and Rust (1997).”
MethodHost discrimination by two desert fleas using an odour cue
Krasnov, B. R., Khokhlova, I. S., Oguzoglu, I., et al. (2002) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1006/anbe.2002.3030 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Is abundance a species attribute? An example with haematophagous ectoparasites
Krasnov, B. R., Shenbrot, G. I., Khokhlova, I. S., et al. (2006) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-006-0498-9 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“In addition, the dependence of survival and, consequently, abundance of parasites on spatially variable abiotic factors has been reported for both endo- (Galaktionov 1996) and ectoparasites (Metzger and Rust 1997).”
BackgroundFleas infesting pets in the era of emerging extra-intestinal nematodes
Traversa, D. (2013) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/1756-3305-6-59 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“Indeed, wildlife represents an “overwintering strategy” for fleas of pets, because mammals living in sub-urban and urban territories may be infested by fleas throughout the year, thus they are a source of infestation for cats and dogs, especially in spring and summer [73,87].”
BackgroundBonnet, S. I., Bouhsira, É., Regge, N. D., et al. (2020) · Viruses · doi:10.3390/v12070778 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
“Their presence and abundance in a given environment can be seasonal, with numbers increasing significantly during the warm summer months [92].”
BackgroundKrasnov, B. R., Khokhlova, I. S., Fielden, L. J., et al. (2002) · Parasite · doi:10.1051/parasite/2002092135 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Krasnov, B. R., Burdelov, S. A., Khokhlova, I. S., & Burdelova, N. V. (2003) · Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1017/s0952836903004096 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Fleas: Permanent satellites of small mammals
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Respiratory Gas Exchange in the FleaXenopsylla conformis(Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)
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Huang, H. H. H., Power, R. I., Mathews, K. O., Ma, G. C., Bosward, K. L., & Šlapeta, J. R. (2021) · Current Research in Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.crpvbd.2021.100045 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“The focus in Australia has been on fleas from coastal cities, presumably due to the importance of optimal temperatures and humidity for flea development in these geographical areas (Silverman and Rust, 1983; Metzger and Rust, 1997).”
BackgroundHarrison's rule scales up to entire parasite assemblages but is determined by environmental factors
Maestri, R., Fiedler, M. S., Shenbrot, G. I., Surkova, E. N., Медведев, С. Г., Khokhlova, I. S., & Krasnov, B. R. (2020) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13344 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
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“montana development in a laboratory setting parallels those observed for cat (Metzger and Rust 1997), rat (Kreppel et al.”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe effect of larval density on pre-imaginal development in two species of desert fleas
Khokhlova, I. S., Hovhanyan, A., Degen, A. A., et al. (2010) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182010000892 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Poulin, R., Krasnov, B. R., & Shenbrot, G. I. (2008) · International Journal for Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.01.001 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Because fleas spend a significant portion of their life off the host, i.e. in its nest or burrow, physical factors such as temperature and humidity also play major roles in flea reproduction and survival (see Silverman and Rust, 1983; Metzger and Rust, 1997; Krasnov et al., 2001a,b).”
BackgroundLocomotor response to light and surface angle in three species of desert fleas
Burdelov, S. A., Leiderman, M., Khokhlova, I. S., et al. (2006) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-006-0383-9 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“…were obtained from our laboratory colonies, which started in 1999 from field-collected specimens on Meriones crassus Sundevall 1842 (X. conformis and X. ramesis) and A. cahirinus (P. chephrenis), using the rearing procedures described by Metzger and Rust (1997) and Silverman et al. (1981).”
MethodPreferences of Pet Owners in Regard to the Use of Insecticides for Flea Control
Peribáñez, M. A., Calvete, C., & Gracia, M. (2018) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1093/jme/tjy088 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Miller, R. J., Broce, A. B., Dryden, M. W., et al. (1999) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1093/jmedent/36.6.776 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
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Self, S. C. W., Yang, Y. S., Walden, H. S., et al. (2024) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-023-06112-5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“This is especially true of pre-emerged adult fleas still residing in the cocoon, which are able to halt emergence for up to approximately 150 days until conditions are favorable for survival [7].”
BackgroundInfluentialAnstead, G. M. (2025) · Pathogens · doi:10.3390/pathogens14020154 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The larval stage is highly sensitive to low humidity due to the inability of flea larvae to absorb atmospheric water at low humidity levels and to withstand respiratory water loss [182,186].”
Pereira, A. B., Cruz, A., Novo, T., FleaPT group, Cardoso, A., Oliva, A., Rõis, A. S., Saragoça, A., Silva, A., Pinto, A., et al. (2025) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-025-06904-x · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Colder temperatures slow or inhibit the development of immature stages, reducing adult emergence [45].”
Little, S. E. (2021) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-50934-3.00106-3 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Seguela, M. J.-P., Franc, M., Bret-Bennis, M. L., & Bonneau, M. S. (2007)
Castagnolli, K. C., Veronez, V. A., & da Silva, H. C. (2008) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)
Population dynamics of ectoparasites of terrestrial hosts
Krasnov, B. R., & Rizzoli, A. P. (2013) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139095075.005
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(2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-813890-8.00003-1
Krasnov, B. R., Shenbrot, G. I., & Khokhlova, I. S. (2025) · Integrative Zoology · doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12981
Self, S., Yang, Y., Walden, H., et al. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26670990
- Authors
- Metzger, M. E., & Rust, M. K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- ORCID
- Metzger, Marco E.
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Entomology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1997-03-01
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 173-178
- ISSN
- 0022-2585 (ISSN-L)
- 1938-2928
- OpenAlex
- W2063470207
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Entomology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of California, Riverside
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Dermatological diseases and infestations
- Keywords
- Ctenocephalides felis, temperature effects, overwintering, egg-to-adult development, pupal development, sex differences in development, pupae, ectoparasites
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cats, Female, Siphonaptera, Male, Pupa, Temperature
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