Fleas (Siphonaptera) from sciurid and murid rodents on the eastern slope of the Cascade Range, Kittitas County, Washington

Eight species of rodent fleas [Ctenophthalmidae: Megarthroglossus procus Jordan & Rothschild; Leptopsyllidae: Peromyscopsylla selenis (Rothschild); Ceratophyllidae: Ceratophyllus ciliatus prolinus Jordan, Eumolpianus eumolpi eumolpi (Rothschild), Malaraeus telchinus (Rothschild), Opisodasys vesperalis (Jordan), Orchopeas agilis (Rothschild) and Oropsylla idahoensis (Baker)] were collected in 1993 and 1995 from seven species of rodents [Neotamias amoenus (J.A. Allen), N. townsendii (Bachman), Spermophilus saturatus (Rhoads), Glaucomys sabrinus (Shaw), Neotoma cinerea (Ord), Clethrionomys gapperi (Vigors) and Microtus longicaudus (Merriam)] live and snap trapped. There were four new county records for M. procus, P. selenis, O. vesperalis and O. idahoensis, and there were five new host records for the state with M. procus and C. ciliatus protinus ex G. sabrinus, P. selenis and M. telchinus ex C. gapperi and P. selenis ex M. longicaudus. Distribution patterns and host preferences in the Pacific Northwest are discussed.Key words: fleas; Siphonaptera; rodents; Washington Stat