Morphological diversity of the skeletal structures of fleas (Siphonaptera). Part 3: The general characteristics and features of thoracic setation

Abstract

The paper continues the series of publications (Medvedev, 2015, 2016) devoted to the analysis of the structural features of fleas. In this part, the structural features of the thoracic setation are analyzed for the first time. Six characters with 53 states were distinguished in the chaetome of the pronotum, mesothorax, and metathorax. The analysis reveals some cases of the formation of externally similar states due to reduction or, by contrast, strengthening of the chaetome in some genera belonging to different superfamilies, in relation to the specific traits of parasitism. In spite of high variation in the number and arrangement of thoracic setae, some character states can be used as markers of flea taxa of the family and superfamily rank.