The Flying Leap of the Flea

Rothschild, Miriam; Schlein, Yosef; Parker, KH; Neville, C.; Sternberg, S.

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1173-92

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…These studies were in agreement about how fleas stored energy for a jump, but provided two different hypotheses for how the force was transmitted to the ground. The hypothesis put forward by Rothschild et al (Rothschild et al, 1972;Rothschild et al, 1973;, henceforth called the Rothschild hypothesis, argued that the expansion of the spring pushed the hind trochanter onto the ground to transmit the force. This argument was based on two observations: first, in the preparatory phase of the jump, fleas placed their hind trochantera on the ground; second, amputation of the hind tarsi had only a small effect on the frequency of jumping.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They first lock the thoracocoxal joints of the two hindlegs and then contract two large dorsoventral muscles to compress part of the skeletal structure of the thorax that contains the elastic protein resilin, so that it acts as a tensed spring (Bennet-Clark and Lucey, 1967;Rothschild et al, 1972;Rothschild et al, 1973;. The lock on the hindlegs is then released and the rapid expansion of the spring releases the stored energy, which propels the jump (Bennet-Clark and Lucey, 1967;Rothschild et al, 1972;Rothschild et al, 1973;. These studies were in agreement about how fleas stored energy for a jump, but provided two different hypotheses for how the force was transmitted to the ground.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biomechanics of jumping in the flea

Sutton

Burrows

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

114

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SUMMARYIt has long been established that fleas jump by storing and releasing energy in a cuticular spring, but it is not known how forces from that spring are transmitted to the ground. One hypothesis is that the recoil of the spring pushes the trochanter onto the ground, thereby generating the jump. A second hypothesis is that the recoil of the spring acts through a lever system to push the tibia and tarsus onto the ground. To decide which of these two hypotheses is correct, we built a kinetic model to simulate the different possible velocities and accelerations produced by each proposed process and compared those simulations with the kinematics measured from high-speed images of natural jumping. The in vivo velocity and acceleration kinematics are consistent with the model that directs ground forces through the tibia and tarsus. Moreover, in some natural jumps there was no contact between the trochanter and the ground. There were also no observable differences between the kinematics of jumps that began with the trochanter on the ground and jumps that did not. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the tibia and tarsus have spines appropriate for applying forces to the ground, whereas no such structures were seen on the trochanter. Based on these observations, we discount the hypothesis that fleas use their trochantera to apply forces to the ground and conclude that fleas jump by applying forces to the ground through the end of the tibiae. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomechanics of jumping in the flea

Sutton

Burrows

2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

114

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“…Embora possam locomover-se lentamente pelo ambiente e entre os pelos dos hospedeiros, o salto é o principal recurso utilizado para alcançarem seus hospedeiros, podendo chegar até 33 cm em algumas espécies e em ritmo de até 600 pulos por hora (Rothschild et al 1973).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Checklist de Siphonaptera (Insecta) do Estado de São Paulo

Linardi

2011

Biota Neotrop.

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Resumo: As pulgas são insetos hematófagos na fase adulta e que atuam como agentes infestantes ou como vetores de patógenos. Seus hospedeiros são animais endotérmicos, essencialmente mamíferos e, predominantemente roedores. A sifonapterofauna do Estado de São Paulo representa 61,3% (38/62) da brasileira, sendo a mais rica quando comparada com outros estados em número de espécies ou gêneros. Algumas espécies são conhecidas apenas por um dos sexos; outras, através de pequeno número de exemplares colecionados. Quatro espécies (10,5%) são endêmicas no Estado. No Brasil, a principal coleção de pulgas está depositada no Museu de Zoologia da USP. Palavras-chave: Siphonaptera, biota paulista, Programa BIOTA/FAPESP.

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“…The ability of fleas to jump properly influences their ability to successfully find a host and to avoid host grooming, both of which directly impact flea survival. Therefore, any significant asymmetry would alter their ability to jump straight towards a target and is likely to impact an individual flea's probability of survival (Rothschild et al, 1973).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examined flea femurs and tibiae for asymmetry because flea leg morphology is crucial for locomotion. Femurs are directly attached to the structures that power jumping while tibiae transfer the force generated from these structures to the ground (Rothschild et al, 1973;Rothschild et al, 1975;Sutton and Burrows, 2011). The ability of fleas to jump properly influences their ability to successfully find a host and to avoid host grooming, both of which directly impact flea survival.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological asymmetry and habitat quality: using fleas and their rodent hosts as a novel experimental system

Warburton

Khokhlova

Kiefer

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Morphological asymmetry is widely used to measure developmental instability and higher levels of asymmetry often correlate with decreased mating success, increased inbreeding, increased stress and decreased habitat quality. We studied asymmetry and relationships between asymmetry and host identity in two flea species, host generalist Xenopsylla ramesis and host specialist Parapulex chephrenis, and asked: (1) what the level of asymmetry was in their femurs and tibiae; (2) which type of asymmetry predominates; and (3) whether fleas that fed on host species distantly related to their principal host species produced offspring that exhibited greater asymmetry compared with offspring of fleas that fed on their principal host species. We found fluctuating asymmetry in femurs and tibiae of X. ramesis and in the tibiae of P. chephrenis as well as significantly left-handed directional asymmetry in the femurs of P. chephrenis. Host species identity significantly impacted asymmetry in leg segments of P. chephrenis but not in those of X. ramesis. Offspring asymmetry increased when mother fleas fed on a host that was distantly related to the principal host. Fleas parasitizing multiple host species might compensate for developmental instability when utilizing a novel host species; therefore, host-switching events in host-specific parasites could be constrained by the relatedness between a novel and a principal host species.

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The Flying Leap of the Flea

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Biomechanics of jumping in the flea

Biomechanics of jumping in the flea

Checklist de Siphonaptera (Insecta) do Estado de São Paulo

Morphological asymmetry and habitat quality: using fleas and their rodent hosts as a novel experimental system

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