Can You Tell the Difference Between Fleas and Lice?

Fleas and lice are tiny bugs that have mastered the art of feasting on the blood of other creatures for their survival. Top on their list of hosts is human beings and household pets like dogs and cats.

One interesting thing about lice is that they need several sips of blood per day to survive. This means that without a host, they can die anywhere between 24 and 48 hours. This is not the case for fleas. Below you will learn some three differences between these two bugs, starting off with where they host, how they infest, and lastly how they move. Enjoy the read:

Their preferred hosts

While fleas and lice have the same predatory habits and suck the blood of their hosts, they differ in terms of their primary host. Fleas are commonly found on animals. While it is not uncharacteristic for them to bite human beings, it is their counterpart, the lice, that live on human beings.

Fleas are the type of ectoparasites which are commonly found in the animals and birds, and it does not have wings and can cause various diseases such as plague and myxomatosis, etc. with its bite which also causes more pain. It is not found in humans. It can bite them (feet or legs) but not live on them.

Lice are also a type of Ectoparasites found on hairy parts of the human body. It can also be found on mammals and birds but mainly lives of humans. It is spread by direct contact or in an unhygienic environment. It does not cause much pain but irritation and itching. The presence of these can be felt on the skin. Read more from Ask Any Difference…

How they spread

As you’ve seen above, fleas and lice live in different spaces and this also affects how they spread. Fleas can only jump from one place to another. However, for a pet to be flea-infested,  it has to come into contact with a flea-infested area.  Conversely, lice can easily spread from one person to another.

Lice spread to other pets through close contact, while fleas spread to pets from a contaminated environment. In other words, an infected pet can transfer lice directly to another pet, but a flea-infested pet will very rarely directly transfer fleas to another pet. Rather, a pet has to walk or lay around an area that is contaminated with fleas and then the fleas will jump on the pet.

Any pet, even those that are well-cared for, can get fleas; their age or breed doesn’t matter, either. Lice, however, tend to affect young, old or neglected pets living in poor sanitary conditions. Read more from Pet Basics…

Here’s another difference:

How they move

Fleas are known to be tiny jumping creatures. They can jump as high as 13 inches. This is actually close to 200 times their body size, and that’s quite a powerful jump, right? What about lice? Lice on the other hand move by crawling. This is why the best spreading method for them is by someone coming into contact with someone whose hair has been contaminated with lice.

Both fleas and lice are small, wingless, parasitic insects, capable of living on your pet (or on you). Fleas and lice cause great discomfort to their hosts—mainly in the form of itchy skin, irritated skin—but beyond these basic similarities, the two parasites do not have much in common. Where fleas are capable of jumping many inches in the air, lice are slow-moving and sedentary. Of the two insects, lice are easier to eradicate; dealing with fleas is a much more intensive and frustrating experience. Read more from Pet Care Rx…

You really wouldn’t want to deal with any of these bloodsuckers. Plus, the best way to get rid of them or keep them away is by calling the pest control experts. This is why Backyard Bug Patrol exists. We have qualified professionals who have mastered the art of getting rid of bugs and pests. Contact us today for all flea control needs in Maryland