Sticktight Flea

*Echidnophaga gallinacea*, the sticktight or hen flea, is a small combless flea about 1.5–2 mm long with a distinctly angular, flattened head and very short antennae. Unlike other fleas, the mated female embeds her mouthparts permanently in the host's skin and remains attached for two to six weeks, becoming partially encased in inflamed tissue. Eggs are laid into the ulcerated lesion and drop to the litter or soil below, where larvae develop on organic debris and pupate in a cocoon; the full cycle takes roughly four to six weeks in warm conditions.

Attached females form dense dark clusters on sparsely feathered skin — the comb, wattles and around the eyes of poultry — and on the ears, face and between the toes of dogs, cats, rabbits, horses and wildlife. Feeding causes ulceration, blood loss, secondary bacterial infection, drop in egg production, and death of young birds under heavy loads. People handling infested birds pick up fleas that will attach and bite, and the species has been implicated in murine typhus circulation where poultry and rodents share premises.