A Preliminary Note on the Occurrence of Pulex irritans L. and Pulex simulans Baker in North America

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Abstract
Pulex simulans Baker, 1895, was synonymized with P. irritans L., 1758, in 1908. However, P. simulans is a good species and is recalled from this synonymy. The main distinctions between the 2 species are differences in (a) size, (b) aedeagus, (c) hosts. The now cosmopolitan P. irritans is mainly a flea of larger carnivores and man; P. simulans is found only in the U.S.A., Mexico, Central America and in the northern half of South America, on prairie-dogs and groundsquirrels especially, and is therefore a potential vector of plague. A male neotype is erected for Pulex irritans L., 1758, and a female lectotype for P. simulans Baker, 1895; it is pointed out that the type-locality of the latter species is Devil''s River, Texas.
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