Determination of the physiological age of female fleas by using a luminescence microscopy method

On the basis of studies of age changes in the ovaries of Ct. orientalis, Ct. teres, C. laeviceps and X. conformis by means of luminescent microscopy a scale was plotted for identification of physiological age of females of fleas. Depending on the presence or absence of yellow bodies and on the stage of development of oocytes in the ovary the fleas are arranged into two main groups: breeding and non-breeding females. According to the total combination of characters, size and colour of yellow bodies, presence and character of luminescence in the germarium and adjoining areas of vitellarium, the presence of "starvation bodies", "degeneration bodies" and resorpting oocytes, the state of seminal receptable, each group is divided into subgroups that enables us to make a detail description of age composition of the population under study.