Named in 1835 by Peter Friedrich Bouché,[1] A. erinacei is a common flea "found on every hedgehog, usually in large numbers".
[2] A typical number of fleas on a hedgehog is about a hundred, but up to a thousand have been reported on sick animals.
Once hatched, larvae feed on faeces, which include dried blood, and on other material in the nest, then pupate, and adult fleas emerge from the pupae after several days, with variations which depend on temperature and other factors.
[9] The species is most commonly found on hedgehogs in western and northern Europe, including the British Isles, but it is also established in hedgehog populations in other European countries, including the Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, and Ukraine, and in North Africa.
[10] The subspecies A. e. maura is the common stenoxenous flea of the North African hedgehog in the western Mediterranean regions of North Africa, from Morocco to Libya, and on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.