Oriental rat flea
The Oriental rat flea is a tiny, wingless insect that lives on rats. It cannot fly, but its strong little legs make it a super jumper. It is famous because it can spread plague, a serious illness, from rats to people.
How big is it?
How long is it?
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How fast is it?
Fun facts
It can jump up to 200 times its own body length, about 50 centimetres.
It finds animals and people by smelling the air they breathe out.
One female can lay up to 50 eggs a day.
It can wait inside its cocoon for up to a year until the time is right to come out.
Its scientific name cheopis comes from the great pyramids of Egypt.
Most asked questions about Oriental rat flea
?How far can a rat flea jump?
Up to about 50 centimetres, which is 200 times its own length.
?Can rat fleas fly?
No. They have no wings, but they are amazing jumpers.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Xenopsylla cheopis
- Named by
- Rothschild, 1903
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Pulicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Siphonaptera > Pulicidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia, South America, North America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Tropical rat flea, Rat flea
Where the facts come from
- Oriental rat flea (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 CDC/Dr. Pratt. Public domain, 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 [email protected] and we will fix it.
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