What You Need To Know About Fleas And How To Control Them
There are two English words that are pretty similar and can easily be confused; flee and flea. How do we differentiate them? To flee is to run away, but a flea is a small bug. Interestingly the flea cannot run, but it can jump up to 30,000 times without taking a break. These creatures seem to prefer big numbers, which is probably why they can also multiply to over 100 in your home in just 21 days.
Fleas have some very interesting characteristics. Below are answers to some common questions about them:
What are fleas?
Fleas are small insects that cannot fly. Biologically they are classified in the order Siphonaptera. The order has over 2500 parasitic insects that live off the blood of other animals. The following post goes into greater detail about them:
Fleas do not have wings but they move and jump quickly. Their whole body is designed to maximize the quantity of blood obtained from an innocent host. The head is surrounded in spikes and their mouths puncture the skin in search of their favorite meal. In order to survive, they feed on the blood of animals like dogs, cats, and humans. Since a single flea can set off an infestation, being able to recognize what they look like and how they operate will help you understand and address possible problems. Read more Viking Pest…
Where do they come from?
More specifically, how are fleas able to infiltrate our homes? Since these insects are pretty small, they can access homes in many different ways. The easiest is through a host they were feeding off of. Say your pet. Just one or two fleas are enough to wreck havoc in your home as they lay up to 50 eggs in a day. So an infestation in your home might have started with just a few of them on your pet.
Most of the time, flea infestations begin when an outdoor dog or cat brings fleas from the outside into the owner’s home. However, fleas can also enter a home on a piece of old furniture or on the skin or clothing of a guest whose house is infested; fleas don’t often use humans as hosts, but they’re capable of traveling on us. It’s even possible for fleas to get inside a house without using a host—fleas are very small and are capable of entering a house through window screens and cracks in the floor. You can help keep an infestation from beginning by vacuuming often and by bathing your pets and changing their bedding on a regular basis. Read more from BestPick Reports…
How long do they live?
When the conditions are in its favor, the adult flea can live from between one month to a full year. The flea goes through four stages namely: egg, larva, pupa, and finally adult stage. Interestingly, when fleas get into the pupa stage, they can stay in their cocoon for a long time, only to be awakened by a prospective host passing by.
An adult flea spends most of its life on an animal, while the development of the egg, larva, and pupa happens off the pet. That’s why effective flea control must include treatments for both the pet and the environment to stop a recurring infestation. Only eliminating fleas on your pet is not enough to rid your yard and home of the problem. In fact, the pupal stage of the flea is so resistant that a pupa can survive for as many as two years in the right conditions. Unless you eradicate all traces of fleas in all the stages, you may deal with the flea problem’s consequences for a very long time.
Adult fleas living on your pet will feed on blood daily or every other day. The female will then lay eggs on the host animal—up to 30 to 60 eggs per day. Read more from Mosquito Joe…
To help stop an infestation from becoming worse, you should consider searching your home to identify their source. If you don’t you may find yourself constantly stuck in the same cycle. You can use methods like cleaning your house, spraying insecticides, and using a tool as simple as a vacuum cleaner to get rid of them. But if you’re serious about getting rid of every trace of fleas, call the professionals. Backyard Bug Patrol, a leading pest control company in Maryland, is ready to help you through our excellent indoor pest control services. Call us today!