Hen flea
The hen flea is a tiny brown flea that lives in birds' nests. Its body is flat from side to side, so it can slip easily between feathers. It drinks blood from birds, and it is a champion jumper.
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Fun facts
It probably first lived in the nests of tits, little garden birds, and later moved in with chickens.
It spread all over the world together with chickens, even to islands with no tits at all.
It can wait all winter fully grown inside its cocoon, and jumps out when it feels shaking, warmth or a breath.
Only the grown-up fleas bite. The larvae have chewing jaws and live in the nest.
When a cat catches a bird, the bird's fleas may hop onto the warm cat.
Most asked questions about Hen flea
?Can hen fleas bite humans?
Yes, they can bite people and pets, but they much prefer birds.
?Where do hen fleas live?
Mostly in birds' nests, especially in nest holes and in chicken coops.
?How big is a hen flea?
Only about 2 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ceratophyllus gallinae
- Named by
- Schrank, 1803
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Ceratophyllidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Siphonaptera > Ceratophyllidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- European chicken flea
Where the facts come from
- Ceratophyllus gallinae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Katja ZSM. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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