Bloodsucker deer (moose flea, fly, louse, tick)

Entomologists do not distinguish such a species as a moose flea. However, in everyday life this concept applies to all blood-sucking insects that have chosen large-horned animals as roosters: roe deer, deer, and moose. Parasite victims can be articles and smaller warm-blooded representatives of the fauna, as well as humans.

What do moose fleas look like?

Moose fleas live in the northern part of Europe, Scandinavia, in Siberia. Most often they are found in the taiga and in the cold regions of Russia. Moose fleas are called several insects:

• goat fleas;
• deer bloodsuckers;
• Alacurt

All parasites belong to different suborders and have their own characteristics. Below are the moose fleas in the photo. To understand which danger to humans and animals are bloodsuckers, it is worth considering each of them separately.

Features parasitism deer bloodsucker

Deer of a bloodsucker is an annoying fly of large sizes. It is also called a flea, a louse, tick. A flat flattened body with a strong chitinous cover allows the insect to withstand strong physical pressure, so crushing it is not so simple. The size of the bloodsucker does not exceed 3.5 mm. The characteristic light brown brilliant color distinguishes a fly from elk fleas.

The insect is characterized by highly developed wings, but it is not capable of long flights. Large eyes are located on the thickened head, occupying 25% of the entire surface. The piercing-sucking-type mouth apparatus involves feeding only blood. For a day, a deer bloodsucker makes up to 15 meals, each time drinking up to 1.5 mg of blood. The parasite is very tenacious and adapts to any warm-blooded on which it parasitizes. His attacks are predominantly wild animals.

Up to 1000 specimens can be concentrated on the body of one moose. On average, 200-300 flies constantly live on the animal. Bites very painful, cause itching, anxiety. In their place, redness and a rash appear. It has been experimentally established that the moose fly prefers a thick coat of wool and therefore most of them are concentrated in the neck and back.

On a note!

With a large population, people also become victims of deer bloodsuckers. There are cases when in one minute a person was attacked by 100-120 individuals.

A moose louse hunts in the daytime. Interestingly, she does not attack children. Such selectivity is determined by the size of the victim, because deer bloodsuckers prefer larger carriers. Attacks of insects are most often experienced by hunters during the division of prey.

Digging into the body of its victim, the insect folds its wings, swells and sticks tightly to the skin, for which it received the popular name - moose tick.

Breeding Elk Mites

A bloodsucker deer determines its prey by smell and heat. The mite awaits its donor in the grass or bushes, upon seeing a suitable object flies over it and clings tightly to the coat. Features of life in the forest do not allow the bloodsucker to constantly change the owner, so she leads a sedentary lifestyle. Having settled in the wool, the tick breaks off its wings and proceeds to parasitization.

Interesting!

It is common for this species to live in pairs. Female and male always stick together. After mating, the female needs constant nutrition and absorbs blood more than the male. Moose ticks are characterized by live births. In the abdominal cavity of a female individual, larvae are formed, which are called puparia.

Throughout her life, the female lays up to 30 puparia, which gradually roll out of the animal’s hair and often become food for birds. The peak of elk tick breeding activity occurs in late autumn and early winter. With the onset of spring, deer bloodsuckers die.

What are dangerous stings of a deer bloodsucker for a person?

Elk mites do not transmit any dangerous or deadly viruses. The harm of a bloodsucker to a person lies in painful bites. Numerous attacks of parasites provoke the appearance of a rash, swelling, itching, allergic reactions.

The following measures will help protect yourself from the attacks of deer bloodsuckers in the forest:

• Wear protective clothing made of thick fabrics with long sleeves;
• use a mosquito net to protect your face;
• apply powerful repellents that repel forest fleas;
• periodically check the skin for the presence of elk mites;
• Upon returning home, take a bath with tar tar.

If the bites of elk fleas give strong pain, then the bite should be disinfected with a solution of iodine or alcohol tincture. Normal ice will help relieve itching, and pharmacy ointments should be used to relieve inflammation and swelling. If the condition worsens and severe allergic reactions appear, consult a doctor.

Tien Shan flea Alakurt

The Tien Shan elk flea is large in size. There are individuals whose length in a fertilized form reaches 9-10 mm. In males, the body is concave, in females, after fertilization, the body swells in length and takes on a worm-like shape. For such a characteristic feature, a flea is called a black or white worm.

In late October, after snowfall from plants to the ground, black worm-shaped fleas begin to fall. Severe frost does not prevent their reproduction.

On a note!

Parasites choose cattle as their prey. Sick weakened animals do not attract them.

Unlike most flea species, alacurth is forced to live permanently on the victim’s body. In this, he is in many ways similar to lice. On one donor, there can be numerous accumulations of Tien Shan fleas. Red bloody streaks appear on the body of the animal, severe depletion occurs, which ultimately often leads to the death of the victim, on which the alakurt colony settled.

There were no cases of attacks of Tien Shan fleas on humans.