Echidnophaga gallinacea, commonly known as the hen flea, stickfast flea and sticktight flea, occurs on a wide range of bird and mammal hosts. If uncontrolled it causes anaemia, loss of condition, severe skin irritation and sometimes death. The genus Echidnophaga (Olliff, 1886) includes some 21 species occurring in the Palaearctic, Afrotropic and Australasian regions, except for the hen flea which has acquired an inadvertent cosmopolitan distribution through the widespread introduction of domestic animals.