The human flea is considerably exceeded in size by certain other species found upon much smaller hosts; thus the European Hystrichopsylla talpae, a parasite of the mole, shrew and other small mammals, attains a length of 5z millimetres; another large species infests the Indian porcupine.
Insects abound in great numbers, the most troublesome and destructive being the tick (Ixodes natalensis), which infests the pasturage, and the white ant (Termes mordax).
Six or seven species of mosquitoes are also the intermediate hosts of Filaria immitis, which infests the right auricle and pulmonary artery of the dog, and occurs throughout the tropics, in southern Europe, the United States of America, and elsewhere.
The tsetse fly (Glossing morsitans) infests several districts; the sand-flea has been imported from the west coast.
The tick especially infests old huts and camping grounds and is nocturnal in habit, spending the day hidden in crevices of the walls or floor and coming out at night to feed upon the sleeping inmates.