''Pulex'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

s. It comprises seven

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. One is the

human flea The human flea (''Pulex irritans'') – once also called the house flea – is a cosmopolitan flea species that has, in spite of the common name, a wide host spectrum. It is one of six species in the genus '' Pulex''; the other five are all confi ...

(''P. irritans''), and five of the others are confined to the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

and

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bi ...

Species

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of no ...

'' lists seven species: *''

Pulex alvarezi ''Pulex'' is a genus of fleas. It comprises seven species. One is the human flea (''P. irritans''), and five of the others are confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical realms. Species ''Encyclopedia of Life'' lists seven species: *'' Pulex alvar ...

'' Barrera, 1955 *'' Pulex echidnophagoides'' (Wagner, 1933) *'' Pulex irritans''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoological ...

*'' Pulex larimerius'' Lewis et Grimaldi, 1997 *'' Pulex porcinus'' Jordan et Rothschild, 1923 *'' Pulex simulans'' Baker, 1895 *'' Pulex sinoculus'' Traub, 1950

References

Siphonaptera genera Pulicidae Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Flea-stub