What Do Fleas Look Like? - The Australian Museum

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Fleas belong to the Order Siphonaptera.

What do fleas look like?

Size:

• 0.5 mm - 10 mm in length but most are shorter than 5 mm.

Body:

• Very thin as if pressed from the sides.
• Covered with hairs and spines directed backwards, some in comb-like formations.
• Appears hard.

Antennae:

• Very short, held in a groove hence often difficult to see.
• Never longer than body.

Eyes:

• Very small or absent.

Mouthparts:

• For piercing and sucking.

Wings:

• Absent.

Limbs:

• Six legs.
• Hindlegs enlarged and modified for jumping;
• Have claws modified for clinging to feathers and hair.

Abdomen tip:

• Cerci (tails) absent.

Where are fleas found?

• On mammals and birds (rarely) among hairs or feathers.
• Few are found on semi-aquatic animals such as the platypus, but never on marine mammals.

What do fleas do?

• Fleas are external parasites. They maybe found alone or in large numbers on suitable hosts.
• When disturbed they jump. They can jump incredible distances.
• They feed on blood.
• They are active during the day.

What looks similar?

• Flies that do not have wings can be mistaken for fleas. Unlike fleas, wingless flies are never thin as if pressed from the sides.
• Lice differ from fleas in that they are flattened as pressed from above, do not jump when disturbed, and can occur on fully aquatic hosts.

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• What do web spinners look like?
• An introduction to spiders
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• What is a carnivore?
• What do sawflies look like?
• What do cockroaches look like?
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• Common and Unusual Identifications - Insects
• Birds at night on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Where do spiders live?
• Identification of stoneflies

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The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands.

Image credit: gadigal yilimung (shield) made by Uncle Charles Chicka Madden

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