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Uptake of Atmospheric Water by the Hen Flea Ceratophyllus gallinae (Schrank)

Abstract

THE only insects known to take up atmospheric water actively are Tenebrio larvae1, Chortophaga nymphs2, and the prepupae of the tropical rat flea Xenopsylla brasiliensis3. The present observations add another example, the imago of the hen flea Ceratophyllus gallinae, and suggest a behavioural and ecological function for the phenomenon.

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References

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HUMPHRIES, D. Uptake of Atmospheric Water by the Hen Flea Ceratophyllus gallinae (Schrank). Nature 214, 426 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/214426a0

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