The body of these insects reaches a length of five millimeters. It is covered with bristles and flattened on the sides. Due to the structure of their body, fleas are able to firmly adhere to any vertical surfaces, fur, and folds of clothing. Insects have a powerful hind pair of legs. This allows you to make fairly high jumps.
Type and lifestyle of fleas
The head and flat armored body of the pest are dark brown, the body length reaches 5 mm. Nature has endowed the flea with a large jaw for biting through skin and blood vessels. The oral apparatus includes a proboscis, with which the parasite probes the surface of the epidermal layer and pierces it. Antennas protrude behind the eyes; males use them when mating.
Picture of a cat flea
Fleas cannot fly because they lost their wings during the process of evolution. But representatives of this order of arthropods can jump. For jumping, insects use the hind pairs of legs, which are longer than the front ones.
For your information! A person could jump 213 m in height if he had the same agility.
Small dirty creatures live in garbage cans, in damp, unventilated places: in basements, attics, especially when street cats and dogs live there. They are located in the cracks of linoleum, in the crevices of wooden floors and parquet. The litter where a pet sleeps is most likely inhabited by a guard of bloodsuckers.
There is an opinion that fleas live on cats, but this is not true. The parasite feeds on blood and, as soon as it bites and sucks in the life-giving fluid, leaves the animal. Food is pulled out using two pumps located in the head. The voracious insect is so hungry that it eats by spraying warm droplets around the surface of the wound.
Note! A flea drinks 15 times its own weight in blood.
Representatives of the species mate directly on the same animal that was bitten for several hours. They do not look for a special territory for laying; eggs are left immediately. The female is not afraid to remain hungry for a long time, but without food the parasite is not capable of reproduction. The owner of two pairs of gonads has a spermatic receptacle - strong, developed reproductive organs. The male has two testes and a sexual claw. The process of penetration of seminal fluid takes 15 minutes.
Breeding cycle:
- After fertilization, the female literally shoots out light transparent balls 0.5 mm in size.
- After two weeks, a larva emerges from the egg and actively moves: crawling, because it has no legs. There are no eyes. The length of the worm is 4-5 mm. Absorbs biological waste and plant residues.
- After the third molt, the caterpillar surrounds itself with a protective structure of silk thread, a cocoon, and the pupa appears.
- The development of the pupa ends with the emergence of an adult, which remains viable for about a couple of months. Under favorable conditions, it lives up to one and a half to two years.
Species affiliation
For many, this statement may sound strange, but in fact, earthen fleas do not exist as a species. This collective common name refers to parasites belonging to the same order of blood-sucking insects. Any type of flea can be “earthy”, except those that parasitize bats.
All species of these parasites have an extensive food supply and only bat fleas are highly specialized insects.
Thus, earth fleas are:
A person has the maximum probability of encountering these 5 types of parasites, although in fact there are 2.5 thousand species of fleas. Without a microscope and special knowledge, it is impossible to discern the differences between one type of insect and another, and in everyday life it is not necessary.
Because of this, it is very difficult to answer the question of what earth fleas look like. They look like fleas:
- black or dark brown color;
- body length from 0.5 to 2 mm;
- body flattened laterally.
But only a specialist can say what specific species is jumping on the floor at the moment. A photograph of one type of flea can be seen below.
Juveniles are very small and black in color.
The difference between an earthen flea and a cat flea
The external picture will not be much different, but the cat’s fleas are larger than their counterparts. The color of the earthen pest is bright black; it nests in the soil, dry foliage, and under stones. They are also inhabitants of wet, unkempt basements. Residents of the first floors and private houses suffer from infestations of such fleas.
A dog was bitten by a tick: what it looks like, signs and what to do
For your information! The Brazilian penetrating flea penetrates the skin of animals and people, settles under the nails, bites into the epidermis, and provokes inflammation. This subspecies exists in the countries of Southern and Northern Africa.
Infection of animals with fleas
Cat love: how cats and cats show it
During a walk, the mustachioed friend comes into contact with stray dogs. It is easy to find a flea-ridden cat near the entrance or in the park; blood-sucking insects move from the patient’s fur and infect the pet. At home, Murka runs around the rooms, lies down on the bed and spreads an army of bloodsuckers. The kitten will receive a portion of parasites from the mother.
Pet owners know what cat fleas look like. But a visual check of the condition of the animal’s skin is not always enough. The cat licks its fur and face, thereby removing traces of the invasion of infectious agents. You need to pay attention to the behavior of the ward.
Symptoms of animal infection:
- the animal combs its body and legs;
- hair falls out;
- bites the tail with its teeth, bites into its flesh;
- losing weight;
- refuses to eat;
- changes behavior: becomes lethargic and indifferent to games.
Itching and scratching in a cat
Anti-flea products
The choice of insecticides today is very large, but not all of them are harmless to mammals. When choosing what to poison the biting bloodsuckers that have settled in the house, you have to take into account the degree of harmlessness of the product. The best option is drugs used on animals:
- Butox:
- Neocidol;
- Stomazan;
- Delcid;
- Bolfo line of anti-flea products;
- Frontline line.
How to rid a cat of fleas
Practicing veterinarians advise starting treatment at the first signs of the disease. Pet stores will tell you what to do if your cat has fleas and will choose the best option. A huge number of suspensions, tablets and drops for fleas are produced. Tablets are more effective. According to the instructions, you need to calculate the dosage.
Cat old age: what to change in the conditions of detention
Note! To take the medicine painlessly, it is necessary to fix the cat’s head and upper jaw. Move your lower teeth and put a tablet on the root of your tongue. After administering the drug, you need to stroke the four-legged patient’s neck, this will make it easier to swallow the tablet. After this, you need to quickly give water so that the substance passes freely.
The active substance of the drug works inside the body, penetrates the blood, and destroys parasites. An injection given by a veterinary clinic doctor has the same effect.
Anti-flea shampoo or spray is applied to the entire surface of the scalp, left for a certain time, and then washed off. It is important to ensure that the mustachioed miracle does not lick the product to avoid poisoning. You also need to treat your pet’s bed with a detergent.
Collars are in great demand; they are placed around the animal’s neck and are not removed.
Important! The strap and tablets cannot be used at the same time. Otherwise there will be severe intoxication.
A specialist will help you determine how long you should wear the collar.
What threatens the animal if timely assistance is not provided:
- the occurrence of an allergic reaction;
- helminth infection: disease carriers are fleas;
- inflammation of wounds;
- anemia;
- death.
Controlling parasites in the home
Regardless of what type of fleas you have in your home, these parasites must be dealt with. If no measures are taken, they will soon multiply, which will lead to severe infection of the house. Naturally, in this case, the fight against parasites will be difficult and lengthy.
There are special chemicals designed to combat these parasites. Also, in some cases, you can use folk remedies. Regardless of which option you use, you need to make some preliminary preparations:
Determine where fleas are coming from to prevent further infiltration;
Block all routes through which parasites can enter your home;
Wash all items at high temperatures.
The danger of cat fleas to humans
Fleas are carriers and pathogens of diseases. It is doubly worse for human health, since they transmit pseudotuberculosis, brucellosis, tularemia, anthrax, plague and worms.
After a bloodsucker bite, people develop a red itchy spot. Taking an antihistamine may help relieve severe itching. The bite site should be lubricated with antiallergic ointment or gel.
Flea bites
Methods for getting rid of fleas in an apartment
Insects in high-rise buildings are a seasonal phenomenon. An insatiable army attacks residents of coastal cities in early summer. High humidity and high temperatures create an ideal environment for fleas to multiply.
For your information! Family members bring insects on clothes, shoes, and feet from the street. In this way, fleas travel over distances of several meters.
Aerosols sprayed onto outerwear help repel pests. At home, you need to seal all the cracks, the space between the baseboard and the floor, and replace the old parquet.
There is information on the Internet about folk remedies, but they do not always help. Laying wormwood in corners, washing floors with vinegar and bleach, and other dances with a tambourine - all this will only bring temporary results. If residents have allergies, then such activities are dangerous: it will not be possible to remove them; strong odors will cause an attack of bronchial asthma or an exacerbation of the reaction.
Sanitation workers recommend wet cleaning of the premises more often, purely mechanically killing flea eggs that linger in dust and sand.
If fleas appear in the apartment, you need to contact the service organization - the management company or the board of the HOA, from where they will contact a special service not only for deratization (treatment against rats), but also for disinfestation of the basement. In the basement, before processing, you need to remove debris and eliminate dampness.
Basement treatment
At home, you need to wash the floors with a product against fleas, bedbugs and cockroaches with the windows open.
Diseases like anthrax are rare these days. But we must not forget about the danger posed by representatives of the flea kingdom. It is enough to recall the number of lives claimed by the plague in the Middle Ages. Therefore, you should not take risks; it is better to immediately treat cats and dogs for fleas before the onset of spring.
Reviews
I'm personally delighted. One briquette cost me 800 rubles, but it’s worth it. I live in a private house, in the summer fleas were constantly jumping on my legs. Ixodid ticks also crawled in. I fed the dog more briquettes in the spring to drive away worms, and fleas and ticks disappeared from the house. The dog does too. And so, until winter, there was no one anywhere, not only in the house, but also among walking, untreated cats. The reasons for the latter are a mystery to me, but it is a fact.
The first time fleas appeared in our apartment was about 20 years ago. Then, after listening to the advertisement, we bought Bolfo spray and treated the apartment according to the instructions. The parasites are gone. This year I see they started biting my legs again. We bought Bolfo again for old times' sake. So it didn't work! Then we found out that now it is often counterfeited, just like Frontline. Apparently we fell for a fake. It's a pity. It was a very good remedy.
Fleas are small but harmful parasites. There are 2000 categories of fleas, about 500 species are known in Russia. Mostly found are rats and cats, but the most common is the cat flea.
