Fleas have been around for millions of years, sucking the blood of animals and humans. Fleas live on pets, mammals, in carpets, in sofas as well as other household goods. In a typical room, 5 percent of the fleas will be found on pets, 10 percent flea cocoons in the carpets, 35 percent flea larvae and 50 percent flea eggs, again in the carpets.
The Flea life cycle is similar to the butterfly life cycle. Female Fleas lay eggs that turn in to grub-like larvae. The larvae then develop into pupae and settle inside a cocoon. They wait for a host to start their life and suck blood.
When something warm, a vibration or other moves by the pupae, they unzip the cocoon and jump on the animal or human body. All this happens in three seconds and the flea can jump as high as four feet.
Fleas feed on blood, and a flea can live without a blood meal for 100 days. A female has to have a blood meal to lay eggs. In addition, it lays eggs within 36-48 hours of having the first blood meal. A female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.
Fleas are very tiny creatures, the adults average 1/8th of an inch in size. They have a flat body from side to side, with piercing mouths that help them in sucking blood. Fleas are often confused with bed bugs, lice and ticks. However, fleas are reddish brown to black in appearance, and they are also wingless.
Remember that adult fleas go through stages including egg, larvae, pupae and adult. Fleas in all stages should be killed to rid your house of them completely. Resistive pupae and larvae grow on to become adult fleas in a few weeks even though the adult fleas are killed. Fleas should be removed from all stages in their life cycle, to protect your family and pets. This usually requires 2 or 3 treatments, 7-10 days apart, as the pupae (cocoon) stage cannot be reached with insecticide until emergence into the adult stage.
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