Fleas lay tiny white oval shaped eggs, their larvae are small and pale with bristles covering their worm-like body. While the adult flea's diet consists solely of blood, the larvae feed on various organic matter.

The flea life cycle begins when the female lays after feeding. Adult fleas must feed on blood before they can become capable of reproduction. Eggs are laid in batches of up to 20 or so, usually on the host itself, which easily roll onto the ground where the eggs take around two days to two weeks to hatch.

Flea larvae emerge from the eggs to feed on any available organic material such as dead insects, feces and vegetable matter. Given an adequate supply of food, larvae should pupate within 1-2 weeks. After going through three larval stages they spin a silken cocoon. After another week or two the adult flea is fully developed and ready to emerge from the cocoon. They may however remain resting during this period until they receive a signal that a host is near - vibrations (including sound), heat and carbon dioxide are all stimuli indicating the probable presence of a host.

Once the flea reaches adulthood its primary goal is to find blood - adult fleas must feed on blood in order to reproduce. Adult fleas only have around a week to find food once they emerge, though they can survive two months to a year between meals. Female fleas can lay 500 or more eggs over their life, and feed from a wide variety of warm-blooded vertebrates including dogs, cats, humans, rabbits. Flea bites generally result in the formation of a slightly-raised swollen itching spot with a single puncture point at the centre. The bites often appear in clusters or lines of two bites, and can remain itchy and inflamed for up to several weeks afterwards.

Treatment & Prevention

A thorough survey is required initially to determine the level of infestation. However, combating a flea infestation takes patience as for every flea found on an animal there are many more developing in the nearby environment.

The animals bedding must be washed at a temperature above 50 degrees C, and the environment will then be treated with a suitable spray insecticide. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful in line with the treatment, but you must immediately dispose of the vacuum bag afterwards.

Back to Insects