Pest Control Brisbane - Fleas

Fleas

Fleas are small but vary in size (1.0 – 4.0 mm long) usually brownish specialised parasitic insect that belongs to the order Scphenaptera. They are blood suckers, the majority feeding on mammals (e.g. Dogs, cats, pigs). There are many species of fleas some having particular preferences for hosts. When drawing blood from their host, they can transmit diseases to humans and animals.

Fleas become pests when humans and animals share the same home or populated area.
The adult female may lay hundreds of eggs in her lifetime about 4-8 eggs are laid after each blood meal. The eggs hatch in 4-10 days entering the larva stage. After about 12-20 days the larvae pupate in silken cocoons which are often covered with debris. In 7-10 days the adult emerges and seeks a blood meal from the host which starts the whole cycle over again.   

The life cycle can last for several months depending on the availability of food. Flea pupae can remain dormant for several months and will emerge from their cases when new vibration occurs. The adult flea then seeks blood meals from the legs of those nearby.

Flea species that are pests in domestic situations are:

Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis)
This is the most common pest flea attaching not only to cats but to dogs, rats, humans and other mammals.

Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis)
This type of flea is similar to other fleas having a wide range of hosts. It has been encountered much less during recent years.

Human Flea (Pulex Irritans)
This species of flea is becoming much less associated with humans since the advent of the vacuum cleaner and other aides for better house cleaning. It will attach itself to dogs, pigs, rats and mice.

Oriental Rat Flea (Xenohsylla Cheohes)
This type of flea most favoured host is the roof rat. This is the principal vector of bubonic plague and marine typhus which claimed millions of human lives during the middle ages (The Black Death).
Flea control can be effective and successful if well-directed application of chemical insecticides and the procedures that the client undertakes to make the environment less suitable for the development of fleas. If animals are still present on the premises they must also be treated.