[FLEAS (SIPHONAPTERA) OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS IN THE CISCAUCASIA].

Abstract

Flea fauna of Ciscaucasia is represented by 76 species, 13 of which are associated with birds and all the other with mammals. Rodent parasites are most numerous; fleas associated with predators, bats and insectivora are less abundant. Fleas parasitize on different species of birds of the orders Passeriformes, Anseriformes, Falconiformes, and Strigiformes. Among 41 flea genera known from the Caucasus, species of the genera Amalaraeus, Araeopsylla, Atyphloceras, Caenopsylla, Callopsvlla, Doratopsvlla, Paraneopsvlla, Peromyscopsylla, Phaenopsylla, Tarsopsylla, and Wagnerina are absent in the Ciscaucasia. Only two subendemic species were revealed in this area. Thirty three flea species are distributed over the entire territory; the distribution of other species is limited to landscapes of one or two natural areas.