PLAGUE FLEA

This is an enlargement of a female Xenopsylla cheopis flea, also known as the "oriental rat flea".

X. cheopis is responsible for transmitting the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. The World Health Organization reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year, globally.

Plague flea > Flea > Pulicid > Siphonapter > Insect > Arthropod > Animal.