The Respective Influences of Temperature and Moisture upon the Survival of the Rat Flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) away from its host

Abstract

The rapid fall in the number of plague cases with the onset of hot weather is a characteristic feature of plague epidemics in the northern half of India. In these regions the rise in temperature is accompanied by an increased drying capacity of the atmosphere so that it is impossible to assess to what extent the higher temperature and increased drying power are respectively responsible for the effect.