About Fleas.
The predominant flea of modern homes in the Western World is the cat flea. Followed closely by the dog flea, which is found on humans and pets, particularly in their bedding, and the human flea, is also found on humans, in bedrooms and is capable of breeding on pigs, badgers, foxes and hedgehogs. The human flea is however rare. Most animals have fleas specific to the species of animal i.e., rabbit, bird, hedgehog and mole fleas.
Getting Bitten? IT MAY BE STATIC. On occasions, office workers mostly women due to skirts and dresses allowing the legs to be exposed to the carpets, complain of being bitten by insects.
But on closer inspection no signs of insect infestation are found. Often the reason is because the carpets are made of nylon and static transfers from the carpet to bare skin, we class this as ‘Cable bugs’, which refers to static electricity. This is very common In environments where there are sources of static, such as the computer console and, anywhere where nylon carpeting exists, a phenomenon occurs which results in realistic-looking bite marks on the skin that look and feel exactly like flea bites. In rooms containing a lot of paper, electrical equipment and fibres, static electricity can cause particles of carpet fibres, paper splinters or fibreglass fibres to jump onto arms and legs. When static electricity builds up, tiny sharp particles of nylon carpeting can actually leap out of the carpet and embed themselves in the skin. Where this problem occurs a liberal spraying of an anti-static preparation will suffice.
Description. Fleas vary in size from 1mm up to 8mm and vary from being light brown in colour to nearly black although. They have well developed muscles in the hind limbs and a unique skeletal structure which are special adaptations for jumping. Fleas have no wings and have very efficient piercing and sucking mouth parts.
Adult fleas live as parasites on warm-blooded animals and although they show host preference they will feed on sources of blood in the absence of their normal host. Some flea species are unable to breed without the presence of the blood from their definitive host.
Life Cycle. A single female is capable of producing several hundred eggs in her lifespan. The eggs hatch after about a week and the legless, white thread-like larvae feed on organic waste including undigested blood and excreta left by adults. The larvae are about 1.5mm long at this stage and are identified by their eyeless, brown head, biting jaws, 3 segmented thorax and 10 segmented abdomen covered in bristles, with peg-like protrusions on the final segment.
The larvae become grey in colour as they grow and after about 2-3 weeks, having moulted twice, reach a length of 5mm. At this stage they begin to spin silken cocoons in which they pupate.
These cocoons are tent shaped and incorporate dust particles etc which help to camouflage the pupa and also makes them difficult to penetrate with a water base insecticide. This is a major problem in unoccupied properties and the use of an oil based insecticide is recommended for these areas or the application of a desiccant dust along joints in floorboards or wood block floors. These turn brown as they mature to become adults and are capable of remaining dormant for 8 months until stimulated to emerge for a feed. It is known that fleas breed close to their hosts in dust, weepings, dirt, cracks and crevices and general rubbish. The whole cycle from egg to adult takes about a month in summer, much longer at lower temperatures.
Nuisance Factor. Fleas will often go unnoticed until, towards August and September, either people are bitten or pets begin to suffer. When very hungry, fleas will jump onto people (not their preferred host) feed a little on blood, then leap off again to await a more suitable host.
Bites to humans can cause intense reddened irritation around a central red spot which can last for up to 2 days. First bites are not usually responsible for serious reactions although subsequent ones may lead to hypersensitivity among some people.
Fleas are capable of spreading serious disease.
Control. Flea control is best directed at the free-living stages, when the flea is not on the host. Effective control means halting the flea life cycle rather than just treating the adult flea.
The correct flea control measures can only be decided once the level of infestation has been determined. In many cases, infestations (even of spotlessly clean homes) can usually be attributed to pets, who may well have picked up fleas from outside sources.
Treatment. As a pest controller I used to carry out treatment as follows.
Before my visits I would, where possible have the householder vacuum the whole floor area and pay particular attention the edges of the carpets and under furniture, as well as down the sides of seats and cushions. The vacuum required emptying after each use by keeping it running until the door nearest the dustbin was reached, the vacuum would be turned off and the vacuum emptied straight in the bin. If this procedure was not carried out the fleas are more than likely to escape the vacuum and the problem will never be sorted. There was never a need to dispose of any pet bedding etc it can all be treated.
Fleas will not be behind heavy furniture because they will want to jump onto a passing host, they do not go mountaineering to do so, they are opportunistic pests and will take any warm blooded animal as they pass by.
Treatment is simple however for the DIYer to carry out the treatment is usually a bit more awkward because the DIYer normally will not have the same spray equipment that a pest controller carries. However the treatment is very much the same, ideally purchase a water based chemical that can be diluted and put into a small spray bottle. The edges of the rooms and especially carpets require a copious quantity of spray, so it runs down the edges of the skirting boards. The same applies to any seating areas after the cushions have been removed. And the same applies to under the edges of furniture especially where it is dark.
The treated areas ideally should not be vacuumed for at least a month so the insects can hatch and walk into the chemicals which will stay active for quite a while. Once they have touched the chemicals they will die, and the lifecycle has now been broken and some sort of control can be carried out. If vacuuming does take place it is important the edges of the floors and seats etc are not vacuumed or the active chemicals will be vacuumed up.
It is possible to treat areas with spray cans that can be purchased from the shop but be aware that a lot of the cans say to spray then vacuum up after 30 minutes or so, this method will only have killed any active fleas that the chemical has touched, you need to wait until the eggs have hatched and the young have been killed by the chemical.
Where possible and ideally under very edge of the carpet a light dusting of a general insect treatment such as ant powder is a very good method of killing any young and adults that stray into the chemical, but a very light dusting on a dry area is more than sufficient.
It goes without saying that pets should also be regularly treated with an appropriate veterinary product.
Thoroughness is vital when treating any flea infestations as problems can quickly re-surface if an area is not treated sufficiently.
Treatments can be carried out by using conventional residual Insecticides which are easily purchased over the counter.