Fleas are found throughout the United States and are most likely to be encountered where pets live. Outdoors, fleas are most abundant during humid, rainy summers and are more common outside in the southern United States than in the North. Indoors, warmth and high relative humidity are the perfect conditions for large populations. Because humidity and temperatures climb during warmer seasons, larval development is accelerated causing the sudden appearance of a large numbers of adult fleas. These adult fleas are ectoparasites of their hosts, but fleas go through stages and do not spend the majority of their life cycle on their host.

» The Flea Life Cycle – It’s a Vicious Cycle
» Getting Rid of those Frightening Fleas is Easy as 1-2-3
» Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs)
» Diseases Caused by Fleas and Ticks
» Miscellaneous Flea Facts

There are four distinct developmental stages of the flea: eggs, larvae, pupae and the adult flea. Flea infestations include all stages of the flea life cycle. You may be surprised to learn that adult fleas only make up about 1% of an infestation, that means 99% are pre-adult fleas lurking around. These pre-adults consist of the following:

* Flea Eggs account for approximately 34% of the infestation.
* Flea Larvae account for approximately 57% of the infestation.
* Flea Pupae account for approximately 8% of the infestation.

Flea Eggs:
After consuming a blood meal, female fleas deposit eggs on the host in groups of 1 to 18. Some species of fleas can deposit up to 2000 eggs in their lifetime. Flea eggs are whitish in color and measure 1/32-inches in diameter, so they are barley visible to the human eye. They don’t usually stay on the animal long, falling off into carpeting, furniture, pet bedding, yard — anywhere your pet may roam. Under optimal conditions, flea eggs can develop into the larval stage within 10 days, but hatching can range from 2 to 21 days after they are laid.

Flea Larvae:
Almost invisible, the worm-like flea larvae settle deep within carpet fibers and under furniture. The long spines on each segment allow them to cling to carpet fibers, making it difficult to remove all of them by routine vacuuming. At this stage, they do not have legs or eyes, but they do have a biting mouth. Most feed on dried blood from the host or from organic debris present in surrounding area. Depending on the availability of a food source, relative humidity, and other environmental factors, larvae can take from one week to several months before producing a silk-like cocoon and entering the pupal stage. The optimum temperature for larval development is 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Relative humidity must be at least 50 percent. Any effective flea treatment must control flea larvae since of they are over half of the flea population.

Flea Pupae:
The Pupal stage lasts approximately one week. During this time flea pupae are concealed by carpet fibers and other debris adhering to its sticky cocoon. Because this sticky cocoon shields them, few things can kill flea pupae. Only Linalool (a component of several Sergeant’s flea control products) can kill flea pupae. The adult flea may remain in the cocoon for up to one year, but a hungry adult flea can emerge from the pupae in as little as 8 days. Along with hunger, there are a number of things that will encourage the adult flea to leave the cocoon, including detection of host warmth, vibrations, or the breath of the host. At this time, a re-treatment must be applied in order to kill the newly emerged adult fleas and to stop the flea life cycle from starting all over again.

Adult Fleas:
Adult fleas are small, brownish insects flattened from side to side. They do not have wings but are very mobile due to their powerful jumping legs. Adult fleas can live for several years and can go without feeding for months at a time under extreme conditions. Fleas can remain in a structure long after the host animal has been removed. Depending on environmental conditions, adults can breed from two weeks to two years after emerging from their cocoon. Adults prefer warm humid places and stay on the same host pet their entire life, but they will leave a host if the host dies. The adult flea is the most annoying and visible stage because they are biting, feeding on the blood of the pet and reproducing. It can cause your pet health problems such as tapeworm, various skin disorders, infections and allergies.

1. Treat the Environment
If you’ve read about the flea life cycle, you now realize that even though you may rid your pet of fleas, more of the little pests are likely to hop onto its fur sending you back to square one.
Insecticides have been found to be effective against adult fleas and are another part of a flea management program. These are applied where fleas are most likely to breed, including animal bedding, cracks in floors and baseboards. Many veterinarians also recommend the use of indoor foggers to apply pesticides to rooms where domestic animals spend the bulk of their time. When insecticides are used, it should be in conjunction with sanitation.

You should wash bedding and vacuum carpets as well as treat with household sprays, carpet powders and household foggers to eliminate fleas in the home. The good news is that household products now feature insect growth regulators (IGR) that prevent fleas from reproducing for up to 210 days.

2. Treat your Pet
Bathe your animal to eliminate dirt and debris as well as treat for flea infestations. Use a flea comb to remove flea debris and dead fleas from your pet’s coat. PreTect Squeeze-On for Dogs should be administered monthly to prevent adult fleas from biting and flea eggs from hatching into biting adults for up to 123 days.
More traditional treatments such as dips, shampoos, powders and sprays are also available.

3. Treat your Yard
Spray your yard and treat around the foundation to kill any flea populations that may be in your yard.

Heed the Warnings.
If pesticides are misused you can make your pet ill. Always read the label and follow directions. NEVER use pesticides on young animals if the label does not recommend it. Do not use pesticides for dogs on cats.

A new technology in the management of fleas is the use of insect growth regulators (IGRs). These substances are an artificial reproduction of the natural insect juvenile hormones produced in a flea’s normal growth process. They work by interfering with the molting process, thus preventing the immature flea from developing into an adult. For example, if the flea is exposed to an IGR during the larvae stage, it may pupate but fail to emerge to continue the reproduction cycle. And because IGRs are synthetic reproductions of insect hormones, they are not physiologically active in human or animal endocrine systems. Thus, IGRs are much less toxic than typical household insecticides. Best of all, IGRs provide long-lasting protection and can effectively break the flea life cycle to end infestation problems for up to eight months.
IGRs have been proven effective against several insects, including the flea. When an IGR is combined with a pesticide, many insects are killed and the immature insects that survive are prohibited from reproducing. In time, an insect infestation is completely controlled.

Some IGRs are not stable in sunlight, therefore they break down when exposed to light. (Nylar the IGR featured in Sergeant’s PreTect® products has been determined to be stable when exposed to light.)

Tapeworm
• Widespread problem for dogs, cats, rodents and man.
• It’s spread by fleas after the flea larvae ingests a tapeworm egg.

Texas Fever
• Also known as Redwater Fever and Tick Fever.
• This disease is spread by ticks and mostly infects cattle where it destroys the red blood cells.
• With the decline of Cattle ticks, Texas Fever is no longer a common problem.

Tularemia
• This disease is caused by bacteria and spread by fleas and ticks, and there are only 150-300 cases of tularemia reported in the USA each year.
• Infects wild animals, rodents, domestic animals and man.
• Symptoms include an open ulcer at the bite site with painful swelling of the lymph nodes in the areas near the bite, accompanied by a sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, myalgia (muscle aches), malaise (overall feeling of being ill) and fatigue.
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
• Disease is spread by ticks throughout the Western Hemisphere.
• This potentially fatal disease infects humans and dogs.
• The onset of symptoms is usually sudden and includes fever, headache, and myalgias. Chills, nausea and vomiting may also be reported. A rash usually occurs between the third and forth day of fever, and often begins on the wrists and ankles and then spreads.

Q Fever
• Carried primarily by rat fleas, Q Fever infects wild rodents, rabbits and some domestic animals, but seems to be primarily a human problem.
• Has flu-like systems.
• Can cause chronic endocarditis plague.

Lyme Disease
• Lyme disease is caused by an infection of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, following a bite from an infected Deer tick (Ixodes).
• Left untreated, this disease can be fatal.
• Infects dogs, cats, horses, cattle and man; can be diagnosed by blood tests; and can be treated with antibiotics (tetracycline or penicillin).
• Symptoms in humans include characteristic bull’s-eye rash, one-sided facial paralysis, headaches, fever, swollen glands, muscle pain and painful and swollen joints.

• A flea can hop almost 20 inches in one jump, and pull 400 times its own weight (a horse can only pull four times its own weight).

• Since the first fleas appeared about 60 million years ago, 2,200 known species and subspecies of fleas have evolved.

• A newly hatched flea can hop onto a pet within five seconds, start to bite and suck blood within a few more seconds, mate and start laying eggs within 24 hours.

• Up to 5,000 fleas may live on a dog at one time.

• A female flea ingests an average of 15 times her body weight in blood daily.

• Some pets eat 50 to 90 percent of the fleas on their body. This is the leading cause of tapeworm in pets.

• Flea Allergy Dermatitis is the most common skin disorder of dogs and a major cause of skin disease in cats.

• The flea’s life cycle ranges from two weeks to six months.

• The most troublesome type of flea to dogs is actually the Cat Flea. The female Cat Flea may produce up to 50 eggs a day and 2,000 eggs in a lifetime.

• Up to 95 percent of pre-adult fleas and ticks are found in places your pets hang out.