A PLAGUE OF FLEAS

Marlborough Express, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 27 June 1934, Page 3

A PLAGUE OF FLEAS

THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND. OFFICIALLY REPORTED . Miss E. • Plank, entomologist of the Dominion Museum staff, has officially reported as follows: — "At the pr-esent time throughout New Zealand there appears to be what may he termed an epidemic of fleas which, although not likely t-o cause any outbreak of disease, occasion much: discomfort and annoyaince." The report appears in the journal of the Department of Agriculture-. Pr-obably, the Wellington Post suggests, a Royal Commission could obtain (on oath) much interesting evidence, and, perhaps, stiatistical informiation on Pulex irritans in New Zealand — its fecundity, distribution, hiabits. Fleas, it is oomm-on knowledge, are kin-dly impartial tq the selectio-n of their canine hosts. An Alsatian carries more fle-as to- the square inch than any other dog. Cats, too, ,if at all slaick in their toilets, may bring fleas into th-e best kept of bedrooms, for their fondness for the eiderdowin quilt, after being on strenuous night duty, naturalily makes them seek out quiet, soft, and ireposeful positions; and, besides, oats, lik-e -dlOgs,• keep ali sorts of feminine company but they have more liberty andi are- less m danger of motor-cars than dogsStill, it is a question for experts to decide whether fleas favour cats more than dogs, When the entomologist above quoted reported ora the epidemic of fleas sbe expressed. the opini-on that they are "not likely to cause any outbreak of diseas-e." This reassuring statement is important, because fleas (whether of the species ,in question is for the entomologists to say) have an evil reputation in- the East as active agents in the distribution of bubonic plague, about which there ts no thing at all funny to those wh-o have seen an outbreak among Asiatics. E NTERTAINMENT ? Observant persons, not necessarily - equipped with entomological* knowledge, have remarke-d on the ext-ra-crdinary mobility of fle-as. One flea it seems, can travel from end to end of- a dress circle in under half an hour. It has been avouchedi (from certain movements am-ong individual members of an audience) that a flea will be most busy during teinse moments in a play. Its presence may be denoted by -a swift clasp of th-e left fcrearm by the right hand of" one individual. Followed a minute •or so later by a swift movement by his neighbour of the left hand to the left ankle. A little later in perhaps the tliirci or fourth person away, but in the same row, extra pressure is being applied by the shoulders , of an-other individual to the back of the seat. And so th-e progress of a single flea, it is said, can be observed even -by uns-cientific persons — what time business oi absorbing interest is going on on the stage or platform. Fleas, of course, have made for themselves a plaee" among fiamous performers for public entertainment, viein-g with trick cyclists, seals, and jugglers for popular favour; -but these fleas are usually subject to a rigid discipline of trainers who stand no more nonsense with their insect artists than a circus ringmaster will from a lady rider or a toc-familiar clown. From performing fleas, then, it seems, no -outbreak of disease may#be expe'Cted, although if such turned "Bolshie" and mutinies they might "occasion much discomfort and annoyance." IS "CONTROL" EFFECTIVE? Howev-er, with the museum entomologist's warning of the epidemic of fleas there is associated a description of control methods which the journal publishes in detail, and it may be worth while for sufferers from fleas in dwellings to study and apply these measures. All the fleas may not be destr-oyed — in fact "control" is the word used to particularise what to do. But a rigorous and unrelaxing control such as is outlined may have the effect of sehding th-e fleas from- one h-ouse to another, where a more kindiy environment may await. them, unless other fleas have already become well 'established there. In any case the natural celerity of the flea (if not overfed) will enable it to reach the house next doo-r but one, so that resort to control is practioally certain to be rewarded with success in coping with this nationwiidie epidemic to which Mis's Plank has directed public attention.