A collection of Norwegian fleas (Siphonaptera) north of the Arctic Circle

Fleas (444 specimens) were collected from 8 species of small mammals north of the Arctic Circle in the northern Norwegian counties of Finnmark, Troms, and Nordland. These fleas represented 14 species belonging to 5 families. The most common flea, Palaeopsylla soricis soricis (Dale, 1878) found almost exclusively on Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758 comprised 31.7% of the total number. Ischnopsyllus hext-Ictellus (Kolenati, 1856) is reported for the first time in Norway, and Megabothris walkeri (Rothschild, 1902) and Peromyscopsylla bidentata bidentata (Kolenati, 1863) are reported north of the Arctic Circle for the first time. The zone of intergradation of the subspecies Atnalaraeus penicilliger pedias (Rothschild, 1911) and Amalaraeus p. mustelae (Dale, 1878) in Norway is defined at similar to67degreesN latitude. Sorex araneus and Clethrionomys rutilis (Pallas, 1779) were each host to 9 species of fleas.