FLEA FAUNA INVESTIGATION IN SOME FOCI OF HUMAN PLAGUE IN YUNNAN, CHINA *

foci of human plague in Yunnan Province of China are investigated and the flea fauna in the investigated foci are studied in this paper 12 077 small mammals captured from the investigated foci belong to 9 families, 29 genera and 47 species in three order ( Rodentia, Insectivora and Scandentia) while 9 369 fleas collected from the body surface of the small mammal hosts are identified into 5 families, 18 genera and 33 species All the species of fleas and small mammals are listed in detail according to the zoological taxonomy There are much more species of small mammals and fleas in the mountainous areas than in the flatland areas The dominant species of small mammals and fleas are relatively simple in the cultivated flatland areas where Rattus flavipectus and Xenopsylla cheopis are the most important dominant small mammal host ( 83 27 % ) and flea ( 75 32%) respectively The dominant species of small mammal hosts and fleas in the mountainous areas, however, are relatively complicated There are two dominant species of small mammals ( R flavipectus and Eothenomys sp ) and five dominant species of fleas ( Leptopsylla segnis, Ctenophthalmus parcus, X cheopis, Palaeopsylla remota and C breviprojiciens ) in the mountainous areas, but their constituent ratios are not very prominent ( 10 96% 47 95%) Most species of fleas can parasitize more than two species of small mammal hosts, but their corresponding dominant hosts are often limited The results suggest that the prominent position of the dominant flea ( X cheopis ) and its corresponding host ( R flavipectus ) in the flatland areas seems easy to explain why the patients of human plague in the foci have mainly been reported in the flatland areas in recent years