Morphological study of fleas in genus Ctenocephalides

Published: 14 March 2019| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/tjfr3ddc52.1
Contributor:
Andrea Lawrence

Description

Images depicting morphological features of fleas in the genus Ctenocephalides. Included taxa are: Ctenocephalides felis, C. canis, C. orientis, C. connatus and an unknown species denoted as Ctenocephalides sp. 'AL909' (female only). Unknown species is morphologically indistinguishable from C. f. felis, males are needed to confirm species identity. Subspecies included are: Ctenocephalides felis felis, C. f. strongylus, C. f. damarensis (male only) and an intermediate form denoted as C. f. "transitional". Images depict male and female specimens for each species. Image names are in the format (SUB)SPECIES_SEX_SAMPLE IDENTIFIER(ALXXX-X)_FEATURE. Key to terminology: LMA = Lateral metanotal area (note: number of bristles) SPB tarsi = spiniform plantar bristles present on fore tarsus V

Files

Steps to reproduce

Fleas were mounted according to the protocol found in Lawrence et al (2014). Images were taken using a compound microscope with camera attachment. A series of images were taken through the focal plane and stacked with Helicon Focus v.6.7.1 Pro (Helicon Soft Ltd., 2000) using rendering method A and radius and smoothing features set on 6 and 2 respectively. Lawrence, A. L., Brown, G. K., Peters, B., Spielman, D. S., Morin-Adeline, V. and ŠLapeta, J. (2014). High phylogenetic diversity of the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) at two mitochondrial DNA markers. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 28, 330-336. doi: 10.1111/mve.12051.

Institutions

University of Sydney

Categories

Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Parasitology, Siphonaptera, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Taxonomy, Cat, Dog, Molecular Phylogenetics, Flea, Insect Morphology, Ectoparasite, Phylogeography

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