Critter of the Week: The New Zealand Bat Flea

From Afternoons, 3:35 pm on 1 October 2021

Best known for blood-sucking and plague carrying, fleas are some of the world’s least-loved insects. But this week’s critter doesn’t dine on human blood: the New Zealand Bat Flea lives on pekapeka/long-tailed bats and is classified as a Nationally Vulnerable threatened species.

New Zealand Bat Flea

New Zealand Bat Flea Photo: CC BY 4.0 Royal Society of New Zealand