The flea
Clear the ring for the flea! With its amazing bounce, this pest could easily make its mark in the circus. He owes this ability to his strong hind legs. For us humans it is not that easy to imagine, since the insect is only one to four millimeters tall. However, the greater the variety of varieties. Around 2400 species exist worldwide. Of these, 80 species are common in Central Europe.
Another genus of jumping insects is the louse. The best-known representative of its kind is probably the head louse. It remains as small as the flea and has similar properties:
- The insects can sometimes jump up to a meter.
- They feed on animal and human blood.
- They are transmitted through close physical contact.
- Both types are among the Parasites.
- They love moisture.
also read
- Fight pests with insects
- These beneficial insects live in your garden
- How to attract insects to the garden
How to spot fleas and lice
Even if the ability to cover a long distance with one jump is a real specialty in the animal kingdom, you will hardly recognize fleas and lice by their jumps. The following symptoms are much more likely to occur:
- itching
- Small stitches on the skin, mostly linear
- Stings can become infected
- Sometimes infects food
- Transmission of bacteria possible
The meadow foam cicada holds the world record
The Flea is a true world champion in the long jump. However, when it comes to height, the meadow-foam cicada, also a jumping insect, deserves the gold medal. She can jump up a full 70 cm. Compared to large mammals, that doesn't sound particularly impressive, compared to the body dimensions of the meadow-foam cicada, but no animal (and certainly no human) can outbid.
Incidentally, a person could jump a full 90 m far and 50 m high if he had the muscular strength of these insects in his legs.
