Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) —cat flea

Ex Felis silvestris (catus) (domestic/feral cat): TN, Blount Co., 23 Nov. 1947, D. W. Pfitzer (Pfitzer 1950, Benton 1980, Durden & Kollars 1997).

Ex Homo sapiens (human): TN, Blount Co., near Elkmont, 15 Jan. 2005, M. McCaroll.

Like the previous species, this flea has a cosmopolitan distribution. Ctenocephalides felis is more common than C. canis in most regions and parasitizes several mammalian species such as cats, dogs, humans, and Virginia opossums (Durden & Kollars 1997). The cat flea is a potential vector or intermediate host of Acanthocheilonema reconditum, Bartonella henselae, Bartonella koehlerae, Bartonella quintana, Dipylidium caninum, Rickettsia felis, Rickettsia sp. RF 2125, Rickettsia sp. RF 31, and Rickettsia typhi (Durden & Traub 2002; Reeves et al. 2005b; Rolain et al. 2005).