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Myxomatosis: some observations on breeding the European rabbit flea Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) in an animal house

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

W. R. Sobey ,
W. Menzies  and
Dorothy Conolly
W. R. Sobey
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Genetics, P.O. Box 90, Epping, N.S.W. 2121, Australia
W. Menzies
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Genetics, P.O. Box 90, Epping, N.S.W. 2121, Australia
Dorothy Conolly
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Genetics, P.O. Box 90, Epping, N.S.W. 2121, Australia
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Rabbit fleas for use in Myxomatosis investigations have been successfully bred on rabbits in an animal house. The timing of emergence appeared to be governed by a biological timing control interacting with different forms of disturbance. Yield was found to be related to litter size, the time the doe and her kittens were removed from the nest, the number of fleas put onto a doe before littering and the mean ambient temperature to which the doe was exposed in the week pre-partum. The survival rate of fleas in storage was affected by temperature, the degree of crowding, moisture content of the containers, whether fleas were fed or unfed and the source of fleas in terms of emergence times.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , June 1974 , pp. 453 - 465
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

References

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