A Revision of the Flea Genus Thrassis Jordan, 1933 (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) with Observations on Ecology and Relationship to Plague

by Harold E. Stark. University of California Publications in Entomology, Vol. 53, 184 pp., 428 figs., 9 maps, 16 tables, refs. University of California Press, Berkeley-Los Angeles-London. $5.00

Robert Traub Department of Microbiology University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201

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The Siphonapteran genus Thrassis is such a large and complex taxon that, despite its obvious importance in the ecology of sylvatic plague, it has remained in marked need of revision ever since it was erected in 1933 by Jordan. Systematists, and scientists interested in plague, are therefore indebted to Dr. Stark for undertaking such a worthy and difficult project, and for handling it so capably. As a result, it is now relatively easy to identify the species and subspecies of this Nearctic genus of rodent-fleas, and to determine their host-relationships, geographic range, and known association with plague infection.

In the introductory section the author reviews the taxonomic history of Thrassis, explains some of his concepts in systematics, and introduces some new terminology, as well as discusses possible modes of evolution within the genus.

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