Survival and Reproduction of Artificially Fed Cat Fleas, Ctenocephalides felis Bouché (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

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Abstract
An artificial feeding system for adult cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché), is described. Survival and reproductive success of artificially fed fleas were attributed to continuous provision of blood at 37°C and a substrate that allowed the fleas to walk but not to jump. Fleas were confined for artificial feeding in three different kinds of cages, all of which were cylinders of clear plastic with nylon mesh cemented across both ends. The cages differed in dimensions and in the inclusion or lack of hair. The upper end of the cage was apposed to a Rutledge insect blood feeder supplied with a Parafilm membrane through which the fleas were able to feed on cattle or dog blood. Artificially fed fleas yielded equivalent survival rates and 13–19% the reproductive output of fleas fed on cats. This system in conjunction with standard larval and pupal rearing techniques has resulted in a colony that has completed 14 artificially reared generations at the time of writing.