Comparisons of adult male and female fecal protein and time spent by larvae in food patches of varying quality in Ctenocephalides felis (Bouche) (Siponaptera: Pulicidae)

Adult male and female cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouche) were fed separately on an artificial membrane feeding device to investigate differences in total protein content of fecal material from the two sexes.;The mean total protein content of male cat flea feces was 15% higher on Day 1 of the 10 day feeding trial but the subsequent nine days of feeding resulted in no significant difference between the sexes. This suggests that the male is as invested as the female in providing a protein rich food source for developing larvae.;A study investigating the amount of time that both early and late instar cat flea larvae spent at different food sources revealed that significantly more time is spent by both stages at sites containing equal amounts of adult flea fecal material and non-viable conspecific eggs when compared to these food sources tested individually.