Acanthopsylla saphes Jordan & Rothschild, 1922
Plain thorny-headed flea
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Last record: 1921 (Dunnet & Mardon, 1974:92)
Rediscovered in: 2003 (Kwak et al., 2025)
Seven syntypes (2 males; 5 females) were collected by A. Coles at Studley Park and Melbourne, both in Victoria, in May 1911 (Jordan & Rothschild, 1922 fide Dunnet & Mardon, 1974:92). And in 1921, a male and female were collected at Healesville, also in Victoria. It was never recorded again from the state, with its type host the Eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) likely being extirpated from the mainland (last record January 1963), but may have persisted for decades longer (see Frankham et al., 2016). Extensive surveys of museum specimens and potential host animals across its projected range (Victoria and Tasmania) resulted in a single female being discovered on a Tasmaniand devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) near Temma in Tasmania's north-west in 2003 (Kwak et al., 2025). However, the local Tasmanian devil population around Temma has declined significantly since c.2020 with the arrival of Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) (Ibid.).
Distribution & Habitat
Victoria (historical) & Tasmania, Australia
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Jordan, Karl and Rothschild, N. C. (1922). On Pygiopsylla and the allied genera of Siphonaptera. Ectoparasites 1: 231-265.
Other references:
Dunnet, G. M. and Mardon, D. K. (1974). A monograph of Australian fleas (Siphonaptera). Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 22(30): 1-273. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJZS030
Frankham, Greta J., Thompson, Sean, Ingleby, Sandy, Soderquist, Todd and Eldridge, Mark D. B. (2016). Does the ‘extinct’ eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) persist in Barrington Tops, New South Wales? Australian Mammalogist 39(2): 243-247. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM16029
Kwak, Mackenzie L. (2018). Australia’s vanishing fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera): a case study in methods for the assessment and conservation of threatened flea species. Journal of Insect Conservation 22(8): 545-550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-018-0083-7
Kwak, Mackenzie L., Fancourt, Bronwyn A., Hastriter, Michael W. and Nakao, Ryo. (2025). Rediscovery of the purportedly extinct plain thorny-headed flea (Acanthopsylla saphes) (Siphonaptera: Pygiopsyllidae): a parasite in critical need of conservation. Journal of Insect Conservation 29: 70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-025-00709-0