A tiny insect which sucks blood and is a parasite on animals and humans.
A small wingless bloodsucking insect with a laterally compressed body and long legs adapted for jumping. Adult fleas are temporary parasites on birds and mammals and those species that attack man (Pulexi Xenopsylla, and Nosopsyllus) may be important in the transmission of various diseases. Their bites are not only a nuisance but may become a focus of infection. Appropriate insecticides, such as pyrethrum powders, are used to destroy fleas in the home.
Any insect of the order Siphonaptera. Fleas are wingless, suck blood, and have legs adapted for jumping. Usually they are parasitic on warm-blooded animals including humans. Fleas of the genus Xenopsylla transmit the plague bacillus (Yersinia pestis) from rats to humans. Fleas may transmit other diseases such as tularemia, endemic typhus, and brucellosis. They are intermediate hosts for cat and dog tapeworms.