Species Pulex (Pulex) irritans Linnaeus, 1758

Museums

Regional Maps

• Pulex irritans Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10, 824 pp. [614].

  Type data:

   Neotype BMNH ♂, Budapest, Hungary.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Smit, F.G.A.M. 1958. A preliminary note on the occurrence of Pulex irritans L. and Pulex simulans Baker in North America. Journal of Parasitology 44(5): 523-526 [523].

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Broughton Is.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Queensland: Murray-Darling basin, NE coastal
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Ectoparasitic (host(s): Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) [PHASIANIDAE] Red Junglefowl; Hirundo (Hirundo) neoxena Gould, 1843 [HIRUNDINIDAE] Welcome Swallow; Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw, 1792) [TACHYGLOSSIDAE] Short-beaked Echidna; Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792) [PHALANGERIDAE] Common Brushtail Possum; Pseudocheirus peregrinus (Boddaert, 1785) [PSEUDOCHEIRIDAE] Common Ringtail Possum; Dasyurus geoffroii Gould, 1841 [DASYURIDAE] Western Quoll; Rattus fuscipes (Waterhouse, 1839) [MURIDAE] Bush Rat; Canis lupus familiaris Linaeus, 1758 [CANIDAE] Domestic Dog; Ailurus fulgens Cuvier, 1825 [CANIDAE] Lesser Panda; Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 [FELIDAE] Cat; Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 [HOMINIDAE] Human; Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 [SUIDAE] Pig), sanguinivore.

Extra Ecological Information

Principal host Homo sapiens.

 

General References

Hopkins, G.H.E. & Rothschild, M. 1953. Catalogue of the Rothschild Collection of Fleas (Siphonaptera) in the British Museum (Natural History). London : British Museum Vol. 1 xv 359 pp. 45 pls. [105] (extralimital and extended synonymy, distribution, hosts)

Traub, R. 1980. New genera and subgenera of pygiopsyllid fleas. pp. 13-29 in Traub, R. & Starke, H. (eds). Fleas. Proceedings of the International Conference on Fleas. Aston Wold, Peterborough, UK 21–25 June 1977. Rotterdam : A.A. Balkema x 420 pp. (evolution, zoogeography, medical, veterinary, physiology, morphology, faunistics)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		11-Jan-2013	MODIFIED