Speed of flea jump

QuestionsCategory: Flea BiologySpeed of flea jump
Val Thorpe asked 5 years ago

When a flea jumps, what’s the fastest speed it reaches? 

1 Answers
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago

There is a study that looked into this: Speed and Reynolds number of jumping cat fleas (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

I haven’t dove deep into this topic yet, but this is from the abstract:

Using strobe-lit video, jumping cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché), were observed tumbling, splaying their limbs, and landing in various orientations. Speeds averaged 3.6 m/sec, and ranged between 1.62 and 5.76 m/sec, 4 times faster than other fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) and Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild). Average acceleration was -8.1 m/sec2. Reynolds numbers were 730 and 240, twice that of other fleas.

Top