Every mushroom picker, going to the forest, understands that not only mushrooms or berries are waiting for him there, but also blood-sucking insects. If a person can protect himself from mosquitoes with special sprays and gels, it is unlikely that he will be able to protect himself from tick bites or deer bloodsuckers.
Who are moose fleas?
These blood-sucking insects have many names, but they are called elk, or deer, because these animals have become the main breadwinners of fleas. However, fleas can often attack smaller forest dwellers, such as foxes, badgers, and wild boars. They were found in the fur of bears and even on birds. Naturally, having come to the forest, a person can also be attacked by such insects as a deer bloodsucker, whose bite is rather unpleasant.
The habitat of the insect is extensive: it is found in North America and Scandinavia, in the European part of Russia, in Siberia and even in northern China.
More often than other regions in Russia, moose fleas are found in the Pskov, Novgorod, Kaluga, Leningrad, Tver, Yaroslavl and Vladimir regions. The number of insects directly depends onthe number of elk and deer in the area.
Moose fleas - photo
This insect doesn't look like a fly except it has wings. The deer bloodsucker is distinguished by this feature: after it falls on the body of a new victim, it sheds its wings and clings tightly to the hairs of the victim. Now the insect becomes like a tick, although it is not a relative.
Moose fleas have a flattened body, and the size of the insect is from 3 to 3.5 mm. On a flat head there are two large eyes, occupying ¼ of the entire surface of the head. But in addition to these large eyes, the insect also has three simple eyes. The mouth of insects is considered to be a hard short proboscis. The legs of the bloodsuckers are strong, with tenacious claws, thanks to which they cling tightly to the victim. The wings are transparent, reaching 6 cm in length, which exceeds the length of the body itself by 2 times. However, moose fleas fly very poorly and only for short distances.
It takes a good reason for a bloodsucker to fly. Such a reason is the smell and warmth of an approaching elk or deer. Insects hunt only during the day when it is light. Clinging tightly to the victim, the pseudo-fly discards its wings without any regret in order to freely burrow deep into the victim's fur.
What's next?
Up to three weeks, the insect leads a well-fed and sedentary lifestyle on its prey. After this period, it becomes sexually mature. An interesting fact is that bloodsuckers stay together with a partner; finding a couple on the same animal is not at allcomplicated. Sometimes there are up to three hundred insects on the victim! A fertilized female brings offspring 15-20 days after fertilization. She lives up to 6 months and during this period is able to give life to 30 new individuals.
Young pupae, covered with a hard shell, fall to the ground. This happens between October and March. Until August, the insect is in this state, and then turns into a young fly.
Bites
The bloodsucker bites painfully, and sucks up to 1 mg of blood at a time. An insect can eat up to 20 times a day. How much blood does an animal lose per day, having up to 300 bloodsuckers on its body! Artiodactyl cubs often lag behind in development due to blood loss, and animal fur is very dirty due to fly excrement. The bite site turns red, a dense knot appears on it, which does not go away for up to 20 days.
