Black fleas appear in the house in the warm season towards the end of summer, and disappear with the onset of cold weather. However, waiting for the parasites to disappear on their own is not entirely correct.
Insects bite painfully, cause discomfort to people and pets, and threaten dangerous diseases. To get rid of parasites, folk remedies and special insecticidal preparations are used.
Features of black fleas
All varieties of fleas are similar to each other and have a dark, almost black color. If you have pets in the house, there are cat fleas, and less often dog fleas. To get rid of them, it is enough to disinfect the animals, clean the house and disinfestate them with aerosols.
If there are no pets, and black insects are jumping on the floor, it means that fleas or rat fleas have appeared in the room. Parasites live in basements, hallways, cluttered areas and attics. They enter houses through cracks in the floor or wall, or through doorways. To get rid of them, you need to carry out disinfestation in the house and follow preventive measures.
Pest control
Black fleas are actually brown. They acquire a dark color after feeding on blood. Parasites attack animals and less often bite people.
Under favorable conditions, adult individuals live for about three months. They lay eggs daily, scattering them in different places. The larvae hide in dark places where rotting products, waste, and feces are present. After 14 days they turn into sexually mature individuals. They live at home temporarily, but cause a lot of inconvenience.
Differences
Fleas are not as simple as they seem at first glance. Externally, representatives of different species are practically indistinguishable. The human eye sees only a small dark dot, which disappears from view as soon as someone tries to catch it. It is impossible to trace her movement . The tiny bloodsucker jumps high.
More than 2 thousand species of fleas are known. The most common among them are :
- human;
- clothing or bedding;
- felines;
- canine;
- rat;
- chicken
Almost every genus of mammals has its own parasite. Clothes, house or bed fleas more often live in the folds of clothing, fill space in the bed or hide in carpets and paths.
Fleas are white only at the larval stage. Then they have a worm-like shape. Flea larvae are not yet capable of biting and drinking blood . Therefore, while they grow up, they live closer to organic remains.
In addition to the varieties of fleas listed above, there are earth and grass fleas. From our materials you will learn what kind of insects these are and how to fight them, as well as how to detect and get rid of parasites in a parrot and hamster.
What do they look like?
Black flea beetles are small blood-sucking insects with a body length from 1 to 10 mm. In total, 15 families and more than 200 genera are described. Body flattened laterally. The hind limbs are longer than the front ones, so the abdomen is raised upward. The abdomen enlarges during feeding and the color changes accordingly.
Males are smaller than females. The mouthparts are piercing-sucking. They feed on the blood of animals and people. They live in dark places away from sunlight, do not build nests and scatter eggs in different places.
The larvae resemble worms or caterpillars in appearance. The body is off-white, flat. They live in the feces of animals, people, in places where rotting products are present - boxes of vegetables, flower pots, animal bedding. They feed on waste.
On a note! If the larvae do not find favorable places for their development, the genus ceases to exist. Given suitable conditions, they grow quickly, turn into sexually mature individuals, and attack people and pets.
Control of parasites
It can be quite difficult to fight these small bloodsuckers, but if you approach the process correctly, you can achieve good results. This is a complex work in which it will be necessary to clean the premises, treat the pets, and use preventive measures.
Cleaning the premises
First of all, you need to know that dust and dirt are a favorable environment for fleas. For the development of eggs and larvae, an environment is required that protects from external influences; in this case, dust and microparticles of dirt act as protection. For example, eggs can be located right in the carpet under a person’s feet, but the outer layer that the pollution forms ideally protects the offspring.
At the first stage, it is necessary to carry out general cleaning. You need to vacuum the entire room, upholstered furniture, corners, carpets. Next, you will need to move the furniture away from the cabinets, since often behind them there is the largest concentration of parasites. Be sure to remove dust and cobwebs.
After this, you can begin wet cleaning; the better the cleaning is done, the more offspring you can get rid of at this stage. You can wash the room using essential oils that have repellent properties. It is enough to add a few drops (10-20) of peppermint or lavender oil to the water.
It is necessary to pay maximum attention to carpets, upholstered furniture, bedding on which animals sleep and other textiles. Most often, it is in them that the offspring are found. All things that can be washed must be washed. Use the highest available water temperature. If you have a machine dryer, use it.
It is equally important to clean upholstered furniture; it is ideal to use a steam cleaner. It can also be used to treat carpets and soft toys. It is also necessary to remove and wash bed linen and bedspreads.
Indoor humidity
For these parasites, the conditions in which they find themselves are very important. Dirt and dampness are ideal for them, but the sun's rays and dry microclimate have a detrimental effect on them. If you lower the humidity level in the room, you can get rid of most of the insects, regardless of what stage of development they are at. For this purpose, air dehumidifiers are used, where the parameters are set below 50%.
Another way is to use traditional methods, which in this case are simple and very effective. To do this, you need to sprinkle salt and soda in the corners, on the carpet, behind cabinets, which perfectly absorb moisture and kill eggs. Apply also to the carpet and rub in with a brush. After some time, simply collect the mixture with a vacuum cleaner. You can also use another mixture, which consists of boric acid (powder) and pyrethrum, which is a natural insecticide.
Carpet cleaning
It is worth mentioning that it is in the carpet that most insects are observed. Since we cannot see eggs, larvae, pupae, we only observe the result when young individuals attack people and animals. If you take the necessary actions, you can get rid of the younger generation before they bring many problems.
If we talk about the physical efforts that we put into processing and cleaning an apartment, then the most effective is the use of a vacuum cleaner. It perfectly collects parasites at all stages of development, so frequent procedures only improve the results.
In addition, this procedure creates a slight vibration and heat, and for insects this is similar to the appearance of a prey, which allows you to lure young individuals out of hard-to-reach places and get rid of them.
Why are they dangerous?
The black flea is a carrier of serious diseases - typhoid fever, tularemia, salmonellosis, E. coli, plague. However, more often it is annoying with bites and causes an allergic reaction.
Saliva contains substances that prevent blood clotting. When bitten, the substance enters the open wound, causing tissue swelling, itching, and redness. If several insects bite, an allergic reaction develops. Blood-sucking parasites are most dangerous for young children and pregnant women.
Allergies are accompanied not only by itching, but also by deterioration of well-being and tissue swelling. With frequent attacks, neurosis, a disorder of the nervous system, develops.
Human
A cat, dog or any other flea can bite a person if the parasite is hungry and the person is nearby. Potentially, almost 1.5 thousand species of these parasites can choose a person to play the role of victim. But there are also real human fleas . Their main source of nutrition is human blood.
REFERENCE : Insects do not live permanently on their immediate host, as many are accustomed to thinking. They only jump in to eat. More often they are on the move.
The size of a human flea is about 3 mm . This is a lot compared to the size of other relatives. With such dimensions, the bloodsucker conquers distances of up to 50 cm in length. It can be found in those areas of the body where there is the most hair. This feature is similar to the habitats of lice.
Human flea
Reasons for appearance
If small black fleas appear in an apartment where there are cats or dogs, the situation is quite understandable. When there are no pets, and insects are jumping on the floor, the question arises - “where from?” The main reason for indoor contamination is non-compliance with hygiene requirements.
Routes of infection
Black fleas appear in an apartment or house when:
- they are brought by pets;
- spread by rodents;
- the family settled in the basement of the house or in the attic;
- eggs got into the room along with vegetables, soil, and on shoes.
The main source of infection is animals. These are either pets or rodents living under the floor or in basements.
Rules for disinfestation
Before treating a room with chemical insecticides, it is advisable to carry out the following measures:
- treat carpets and fabric items separately;
- “fry” bed linen under ultraviolet rays or steam it with a steam generator (or iron);
- wash floors and back walls of furniture with disinfectants;
- Dispose of old pet bedding.
- During disinsection, attention is paid to places where insects accumulate (window sills, baseboards, corners).
It is mandatory to remove fleas from cats and dogs. For this purpose, drugs based on fipronil, metaflumizone, imadaplocrid are used.
If there are pregnant women or children in the house, use products based on natural ingredients. The premises are left during disinfestation.
The disinfected apartment is closed for several hours and then well ventilated. Surfaces are wiped clean of the drug, and cleaning is carried out after three days.
Where do they live in the house?
Once in a living room, insects look for dark places where sunlight does not reach. Parasites are nocturnal, so during the day they mostly hide in secluded corners of the home. Black fleas settle in different places in the house, but most often these are:
- cracks under the floor, baseboards;
- Stuffed Toys;
- storage rooms;
- boxes with vegetables;
- flower pots;
- sleeping places for pets;
- carpets, paths.
To live, parasites choose places closer to the victim. If there are pets, they settle in their sleeping places; if there are no animals, in rooms where people are more often present.
Folk remedies
- Fleas can be killed by cold. There is no need to do anything; the parasites will escape on their own.
- Pine sawdust performs well. They can be spread under animal bedding. For fleas, the smell of pine is extremely unpleasant.
- Animal wool is treated with a decoction of tansy, eucalyptus and wormwood leaves. The leaves are simply poured with boiling water and allowed to brew. The method is good for preventive purposes.
- In the house, calamus or wormwood leaves are placed in corners and cabinets. In one of our previous publications, we also talked about how to use eucalyptus in the fight against fleas.
- A mixture of baking soda and salt is effective. The substances are mixed in equal parts and poured onto the carpet. They wait until the morning and vacuum the lint.
- You can make a preventive shampoo and wash the floor with it. To do this, add a decoction of nettle and calendula to the soap solution.
- Animals can be bathed by dissolving a pack of salt in a bucket. It is necessary for the pet to be in such a “bath” for 4 minutes. Afterwards he should take a shower.
How to get rid of black fleas?
To get rid of parasites, chemical and folk remedies are used.
Chemical treatment
For those who find it difficult to answer how to get rid of black fleas, you should pay attention to aerosols. The products are sold ready-made in a convenient spray bottle. The aerosol contains insecticidal substances that cause muscle paralysis in insects and instant death.
The maximum effect lasts 2 hours, after which the toxic substance loses its properties. Two hours is enough to kill adults and larvae. After 14 days, it is recommended to carry out repeated disinsection to destroy the larvae that were in the egg at the time of the first treatment.
Aerosols
Effective drugs:
- Dichlorvos;
- Raptor;
- Raid;
- Clean house;
- Destructive force.
When using insecticides, safety precautions must be observed. Two hours after treating the room, ventilate the room, wash in places where hands may come into contact with the treated surface.
Folk remedies
You can get rid of black fleas in your apartment using folk remedies. Insects do not like strong odors and quickly leave the room.
You can use:
- solution of vinegar, ammonia;
- essential oils;
- dried herbs: chamomile, tansy, wormwood, mint;
- garlic.
Scented substances are placed in the room where parasites bite, as well as near doorways. It is recommended to stuff a mattress for animals with spruce needles, which repel bloodsuckers with their smell.
Other methods
Boric acid is often used at home. This substance is odorless, safe for people and pets. It is a white powder that is scattered in tracks over the floor and carpet. The poison enters the body of insects upon contact, causes muscle paralysis, and after some time death occurs. Boric acid is left for a day, then washed off or vacuumed.
Rat
There are European and southern representatives of this species. The former live on the fur of domestic rodents. They parasitize rats and mice in European countries. They are known carriers of rat tapeworm and carriers of plague.
Southern relatives are among the most dangerous in the world. By first biting a rat and then a human, the insect transmits murine typhus and bubonic plague .
Rat fleas
Precautionary measures
When using aerosols, you must follow safety precautions:
- Hands are protected with rubber gloves.
- The can is held at arm's length.
- When treating more than one room, use a respirator to protect the respiratory tract.
- During disinsection there should be no other people or animals in the room.
- After 2 hours of exposure to the poison, the apartment or house must be thoroughly ventilated.
Family members can enter the house after airing and wet cleaning.
Animal handling
This procedure is mandatory, otherwise all previous steps will be in vain. Regarding drugs for animals, you should be careful. The fact is that these products contain potent pesticides in varying concentrations.
When choosing, it is necessary to take into account the animal’s weight, age, health status, and possible diseases. In addition, some drugs for dogs can lead to serious consequences if used on cats.
The right thing to do would be to go to a veterinary clinic, where after an examination and taking into account all the parameters, the doctor will recommend an effective and safe drug.
Preventive measures
To avoid contamination of the premises, preventive measures should be taken:
- clean every week;
- add vinegar, ammonia or essential oils to the water;
- treat pets in a timely manner;
- respond in time to the appearance of rodents.
Fleas bite people when there is a shortage of food and in case of severe infestation of the premises. Preventive measures will not allow parasites to settle in the house.
Doggystyle
They are less common than felines and do not reproduce as quickly, but they successfully infect all four-legged animals that come their way. Like all other types of pests, dog parasites have a flattened body and dark color .
Under a microscope, the insect's too-long hind legs attract attention. It is they who ensure jumping at distances that exceed the size of the parasite by a hundred times.
REFERENCE : The oldest jumping insect was found in fossilized amber, which is more than 55 million years old.
Dog fleas successfully prey on humans . This especially happens when the animal is heavily infected. Pets can pick up the pest from an infected dog during a walk, from a cat or rat, and even from a person whom the parasite was used for “transportation”.
Dog fleas
Appearance
The flea's body length is about 3 mm . These insects are flattened on the sides, so they are not easy to crush .
They are covered with a durable chitinous shell, which also provides them with reliable protection.
There are sharp claws at the ends of the flea's legs, and the insect's body is covered with bristles, thanks to which it easily clings to fur, skin or fabric .
The hind pair of legs of the parasite is much better the other two. Thanks to it, the flea can make long jumps , moving quickly and avoiding danger. The eggs of these insects are very small , and it is almost impossible .
During its life, a flea goes through a full cycle of transformation . This means that insect larvae differ significantly from adults . They look like little worms.
Small jumping insects in the apartment and in the bathroom - how to fight?
Various types of small insects live in every house or apartment. Even if they don’t catch your eye, this does not mean they are absent. Many go out fishing only at night; the rest of the time they hide in the most remote places. These could be cracks, cavities between partitions, ventilation ducts, storerooms.
Some individuals that settle next to humans are absolutely harmless, but most bring a lot of trouble to their owners. They spoil things, food, and also bite. Many infectious diseases are also spread, therefore, having discovered the first signs of parasites in the house, you should quickly take control measures and actively get rid of intrusive guests.
