Siphonaptera
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Si·pho·nap·te·ra
(sī'fō-nap'tĕ-ră),The fleas, an order of wingless insect ectoparasites highly adapted for survival in mammalian fur; they are flattened laterally, spined, and equipped with well-developed metathoracic legs for jumping.
[G. siphōn, tube, + G. a- priv. + pteron, wing]
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
Siphonaptera
(si?fo-nap'ter-a) [? + apteros, wingless]An order of insects commonly called fleas. They are wingless, undergo complete metamorphosis, and have piercing and sucking mouth parts. The body is compressed laterally, and the legs are adapted for leaping. Fleas feed on the blood of birds and mammals. They transmit the causative organisms of several diseases (bubonic plague, endemic or murine typhus, and tularemia) and are also the intermediate hosts of certain tapeworms.
See: fleaMedical Dictionary, © 2009 Farlex and Partners
Siphonaptera
see APHANIPTERA.Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005