This type of flea spend the winter
in their pupal cocoons in birds' nests. They emerge in the
warmth of the spring sun..(where do they live..?..Florida..)
anyway, if they do not quickly find a bird to suck blood from,
they start to move about. In such circumstances they may well
enter houses, but one may also acquire them when gardening
in the vicinity of infected nesting boxes or nests. Bird fleas
can, of course, multiply enormously in hen houses, breeders,
batteries etc. Fortunately, bird fleas only live for a short
time indoors, and they can only breed in birds nests. It is
a good idea to clean out nesting boxes very thoroughly in the
early spring. Ceratophyllus above is the most common bird flea
in Britain, being abundant in poultry houses and "Tit" nesting
boxes. Dasypsyllus is mostly found on small bird species.
C. gallinae spends little time on the host but rather settles
itself in the nesting material. It breeds during the bird nesting
period when the host and the young are available for regular
blood meals. The larvae develop in the nesting material and
feed on detritus and undigested blood excreted by the parents.
Higher temperatures will speed up the development time, which
has been shown by many experiments (Cotton 1970) for one. Theories
have it that the adult fleas produce a new adult generation
during one reproductive cycle of the bird.
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