Species Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale, 1878)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Pulex cuniculi Dale, C.W. 1878. The History of Glanville's Wootton, in the County of Dorset, including its zoology and botany. London : Hatchards viii 392 pp. 2 pls. [291].

  Type data:

   Lectotype OUM ♂, Glanville's Wootton, Dorset, England.
  Paralectotype(s) OUM 1♂ 7♀.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Smit, F.G.A.M. 1960. The Dale collection of British Siphonaptera. Entomologist's Gazette 11: 195-201 [197].

  Type host:

   Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) [LEPORIDAE] (as Lepus cuniculus)
• Pulex goniocephalus Taschenberg, O. 1880. Die Flöhe. Die Arten der Insectenordnung Suctoria nach ihrem Chitinskelet monographisch dargestellt. Halle : O. Taschenberg 120 pp. 4 pls. [82].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, Holland and Germany, ex 'hasen und kaninchen' (= hare and rabbit); northern Italy, ex Capra ibex; Holland, ex Canis vulpes.

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• 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. [173] (also for extended synonymy)

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Tasmania

Extra Distribution Information

Deliberately introduced into Australia as a potential vector for myxoma virus.

Introduced from Europe.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, Tas: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Flinders (FLI), King (KIN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • Tasmania

Ecological Descriptors

Ectoparasitic (host(s): Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) [LEPORIDAE] Rabbit), sanguinivore.

Extra Ecological Information

Only known host.

 

General References

Cooke, B.D. 1984. Factors limiting the distribution of the European rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) (Siphonaptera), in inland South Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 32(4): 493-506 [Date published 13/Aug/1984]

Cooke, B.D. & Slewes, M.A. 1988. The effects of temperature and humidity on the survival and development of the European rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale). Australian Journal of Zoology 36: 649-659

Mead-Briggs, A.R. 1964. The reproductive biology of the rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), and the dependence of this species upon the breeding of its host. Journal of Experimental Biology 41: 371-402

Shepherd, R. 1980. The European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) in Australia – its use as a vector of Myxomatosis. pp. 301-307 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. [301]

Williams, R.T. 1971. Observations on the behaviour of the European rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), on a natural population of wild rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.), in Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 19(1): 41-51 [Date published 30/Apr/1971]

Williams, R.T. & Parer, I. 1971. Observations on the dispersal of the European rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), through a natural population of wild rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.). Australian Journal of Zoology 19(2): 129-140 [Date published 31/Jul/1971]

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
		12-Feb-2010	(import)