European mouse flea
The European mouse flea is a tiny flea that lives in the fur of house mice. Like all fleas, it has no wings, but it can jump very well. It drinks blood from the mouse it lives on.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its favourite home is the house mouse.
If a mouse has very many of these fleas, it can lose so much blood that it gets weak and ill.
It has two rows of spines like little combs, one on its head and one behind it, which help it hold on in fur.
It was named in 1811 by a Swedish scientist called Carl Johan Schönherr.
Most asked questions about European mouse flea
?Does the European mouse flea bite people?
It mostly bites house mice. If you ever find fleas at home, tell a grown-up.
?Where does the European mouse flea live?
In the fur of house mice, in Europe and many other parts of the world.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Leptopsylla segnis
- Named by
- Schönherr, 1811
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Leptopsyllidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Siphonaptera > Leptopsyllidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Leptopsylla (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 Herms, William Brodbeck (1876-1949). Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Common earwig
Silverfish
Chigoe flea
Giant earwig
Grannom
Firebrat
Bed bug
Varroa mite
American house spider
Black and yellow mud dauber
Barn spider
Green-fanged tube web spider