[Characteristics of the interspecies relationship of flea images based on 5 species (Siphonaptera) infesting meridian...

Many years of observations (1966-1981) in the southern part of Volga-Ural sands prove interspecific interactions between five species of fleas, specific parasites of Meriones meridianus, following the Gause's principle. The major mechanism for avoiding interspecific competition for the host is a temporal separation of the five species of fleas. During every season of the year, independent of the exchange of one species of fleas by others, their number on the infested host is maintained on the stable level which is regulated by overdispersion of fleas in the host population.