The Effects of Temperature and Humidity on the Survival and Development of the European Rabbit Flea, Spilopsyllus-Cuniculi (Dale)

Abstract

The development of rabbit fleas from eggs to adults is strongly influenced by both temperature and relative humidity. Normal development only occurs if the temperature is between 15 and 30°C and humidity lies between 70 and 95% RH. This is consistent with the ecology of flea larvae which develop in the rabbit's nest where young rabbits generally maintain a warm, humid environment. At 27°C new adult fleas emerge from pupae about 21 days after egg laying. If environmental air becomes too dry, the water content of the air, even in the rabbit nest, may not always be sufficient to maintain a sufficiently moist microclimate in the nest for the flea larvae. Adult fleas do not appear to have high tolerance to heat or desiccation and, in the more arid parts of Australia, if they left the rabbits during the summer the microclimate of burrows is likely to be too harsh for them to persist.