Welcome to Flea Medication.Net! Fleas can be aggravating. They are wingless, external parasites that live off of the blood of mammals, such as dogs, cats, birds, bats, and humans. There are 2000 known species of fleas worldwide. Fleas are quite small, measuring somewhere around a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch.

Understanding fleas and their cycle of life can help you to battle them when under attack. In the life of a flea, there is a 4 stage life cycle. This consists of the egg, larva, pupa, and the imago, often referred to as the adult stage. The life cycle of a flea begins when the female lays her eggs. Egss are usually laid in the hair, or fur of the host, and are laid in batches. They fall out where the host usually rests, lays, or sleeps. Eggs hatch into Larva, anywhere from 2 days, to two weeks. They can be found indoors in furniture, beds, under rug edges, baseboards, and cracks and crevises in floors. In outdoor areas, you can usually find them under houses, in dirt, sandboxes and shrubbery. These are typical areas where animals may rest, or sleep.

Larvae do not suck blood. They avoid light, and are blind. They survive off of the dried up blood found in feces from adult fleas. They also consume hair, dead skin, and feathers. Pupa will eventually mature to adulthood inside a woven cocoon. They emerge into adult fleas, usually in about six to fourteen days. Sometimes they can remain resting in the cocoon for a longer period of time, until they are awaken by the movement and vibration of the host. A majority of fleas will hibernate in the winter during the larval, or pupal stages, and will emerge during warm, moist winters, and in the spring.

Pupa mature to adulthood within a silken cocoon woven by the larva to which pet hair, carpet fiber, dust, grass cuttings, and other debris adheres. In about five to fourteen days, adult fleas emerge or may remain resting in the cocoon until the detection of vibration (pet and people movement), pressure (host animal lying down on them), heat, noise, or carbon dioxide (meaning a potential blood source is near). Most fleas overwinter in the larval or pupal stage with survival and growth best during warm, moist winters and spring.

Mature adult fleas need a blood meal to survive and to lay their eggs. However, they can live up to one year without feeding. Newly emerged fleas usually cannot live more than a week without a blood meal. The best conditions for fleas to thrive during their life cycle are warming temperatures, usually between 70�F to 85�F

There are 21 published articles and 1 registered authors in our article directory.

Most Recent Articles