Conditioning of insects

A recent edit to the wikipedia article on flea circus suggested that fleas can't be trained or conditioned because they have no brain. It also suggested that some fleas are more inclinded to jump and others to walk so it's a case of selection rather than conditioning. This of course contradicts the long running parable of fleas in a jar being conditioned not to jump and once the lid is taken off then the fleas still jump no higher than before the lid was removed.

Firstly to address the question of does a flea have a brain, Richard Fox comments, "The nervous system consists of a dorsal, anterior brain of two or three pairs of ganglia, circumenteric connectives, and a paired ventral nerve cord with segmental ganglia and segmental peripheral nerves.". A bit of explaination of what that means can be found in this article on Brain Evolution which sees a link between the number of sensory organs and brain power.

With regards to the use of those senses and how they affect the behaviour of fleas aspect there has also been some research done, by Michael Dryden aka "Dr Flea".

"Contrast of a moving dark cylinder against a light backdrop was visually attractive to the fleas. No visual orientation was demonstrated under red light. Increasing the complexity of patterns on the target did not increase its attractiveness. Orientation and attraction to a stationary heated target was demonstrated, but required the additional stimulation of air movements to evoke a directed jump. Light, CO2, and air currents stimulated locomotion."

Osbrink, W.L.A. and Rust, M.K., 1985. Cat flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae): factors influencing host finding behavior in the laboratory. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., 78:29 34.

Walt Noon the magician, inventor and flea circus performer has also reports seeing this behavior.

Apart from the flea circuses there has not been much research into the actual conditioning of fleas how there has been some for other creatures.

Insect Conditioning
http://bjoern.brembs.net/news.php?item.441.3

Conditioning of moths
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v11/n10/abs/nn.2192.html

Pavlov's Cockroach
Classical Conditioning of Salivation in an Insect
Hidehiro Watanabe, Makoto Mizunami*
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000529#n101

So I'm not sure if there is a strong argument for nature vs nurture with fleas. I'd advise anyone hoping to have performing fleas would be advised to tap into the flea's behaviour of responding to heat, light, CO² and air movements.

And finally, some slightly more questionable research into do fleas have higher level emotions.

The Insect Circus at Jacksons Lane Theatre, Highgate

The Insect Circus is returning to London. The next performance of the Insect Circus is at Jacksons Lane Theatre, Highgate, London. There will be 10 shows over 5 days in late October. Tickets available from Jackson's Lane box office on 020 8341 4421.

269a Archway Road, Highgate,
London N6 5AA
27 October 2010
12:00-14:00

Delights to behold will include Dungo (son of Dungo) the balancing Scarab Beetle, Tallulah the Worm Charmer, The Heroic Courage family and their Vicious Vespa Wasps, and the Acrobatic Ants. I have previously enquired and unfortunately the Insect Circus has no performing fleas.


www.insectcircus.co.uk

Fleas on Etsy

I've found a few flea items on Etsy, here's the best of this week's selections



Flea Pin
Flea Greeting Card



Flea Cushion
Dot's Flea Circus Limited Edition print
Better than a flea circus origional print
Dark Alphabet - B is for Bonfire
Flea Circus Collage

A bit odd...

"Ripley's Believe it or not" have just published a new book "Enter If You Dare".

I've checked and there's a good double page spread on flea circuses past and present with lots of photos and pictures. A nice "ask the expert" section covers the topic in detail.

It's available to buy now from the London Odditorium and I'm sure it will appear in bookshops soon too.

For more information, contact RipleyBooks

Boys' Life Feb 1975

The cub scout magazine, Boys' Life had a nice little article back in Feb 1975 on making a "No Flea - flea circus". It describes making a stage and how to perform three tricks; raising a telegraph pole, high dive and a strong flea pulling a railway wagon. It also has an article on how to dress like a ring master which would be an idea costume for a flea circus performance.

Chuck Caputo Electronic Flea Circus

Chuck Caputo is quite well known as a flea circus maker as he's been making them for some years now. I've seen his circuses appear on Ebay and raise a good value even second hand.

Chuck's latest circus is electronically controlled and includes a good selection of acts including a very patriotic flag raising and a novel firing cannon.

Children's Festival

Madame Tiptop and Felix Flip-flop have been performing their flea circus at the Children's Festival in Belfast. The flea circus from Cahoots NI theatre is well known for it's attendance at such events and for visiting local hospitals.