Flea Lifecycle
If you happen to have a dog as a pet, you are extremely proud to declare, “Love me, love my dog.” On the other hand, you are also going to have to say, …”and love all the fleas which my dog has managed to collect during his forays in the park, garden or through his daily meetings with the rest of the dogs.” One has to face it, a flea likes nothing better than to stick to the coat of a dog until it can jump into any other moist and suitable crevice in your house and create mischief and mayhem there.
A flea is a tiny insect, which is brown in colour, and has a mouth that is adapted to sucking the blood of the human or animal host. They have 3 pairs of legs with the hindmost pair designed for jumping. Fleas are capable of jumping 350 times it’s own body length, which means they can get into all sorts of places, and easily jump from host to host.
They also have hard shells making it rather difficult for a person to crush them easily, which is another reason they cause so much of problem.
The life cycle of a flea begins with them laying eggs on the host animal, these eggs will then fall off the animal onto carpets, soft furnishings and your pets sleeping areas. The adult flea can lay up to 50 eggs a day, which over a small amount of time can lead to hundreds of eggs being scattered around your home.
From these eggs a worm like larvae will emerge. These larvae will feed feed on any organic material found on your carpets or soft furnishings, unlike the adults who manage to live only on a diet of blood. The larval stage lasts between 5 and 18 days depending on conditions in your home.
They then undergo a pupa stage, where they spin a cocoon around themselves. The pupa stage can last anywhere from 3 days up to a year depending on conditions. Temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide given off by a passing animal are all triggers that will encourage the adult flea to emerge.
Once the adult flea emerges the cycle repeats itself. An adult flea can live anywhere from two weeks to a number of months if conditions are favourable laying hundreds of eggs.
As anyone will tell you being bitten by a flea is an irritating experience. Fleas have a chemical in their saliva that softens the skin, making it easier for them to penetrate it, which causes the irritating itchiness.
In your cat or dog the fleas bite can also cause dermatitis so you may need to treat your pet for both fleas and a skin condition. Fleas are also capable of transmitting worms and in some cases bacteria. For these reasons it is important that you carry out a regular flea prevention rountine.