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Fleas

Insect Control – Fleas

Fleas

  • Adult fleas are shiny brown in colour, 2-3mm in length with a thin laterally flattened body and large hind legs which allow them to jump onto passing hosts, jumping vertically up to 15cms.
  • A female flea will lay up to 50 eggs a day, about 2,000 in her lifetime, which are white, oval and about 0.5mm in length.
  • Larvae thrive in dark humid places such as animal bedding, carpet fluff and skirting boards and feed on cast skin and the blood-rich faeces of the adult flea.
  • Whilst growing the larvae will spin a silken cocoon before forming into pupae. When fully grown, the adult will wait and only emerge when it detects vibrations caused by a potential host. Once the flea hops onto the host, the adults mate and begin the life-cycle all over again.
  • The complete metamorphosis from egg to adult can take up to 2 years depending on the temperature and food sources available.
  • A flea bite can cause intense irritation centred around a bright red spot.
Adult Flea
Evidence
  • Red bites on legs usually below knee level.
  • Cats and dogs continually scratching.
  • Cats avoiding infested carpeted areas.
  • Live fleas crawling on hosts and dead fleas evident on laminate/tiled floors.
  • Flea dirt on pet bedding and furnishings.
Treatment
  • Application of residual insecticide to all floor areas. This will kill the egg, the larvae and the adult stages of the life cycle. No insecticide can penetrate the pupae stage. The pupae will usually hatch out within 2 weeks and then be killed off by the residual insecticide.
  • We will re-retreat any infestation that is still active 2 weeks after the initial treatment, spraying before this period will not speed up the process of elimination.
  • Treating adult fleas on pets only, means the egg, larvae and pupae stages are left unaffected and will develop into new adult fleas thus continuing the cycle. A greater percentage of the problem lies within the carpets.
Areas We cover in Essex Maldon, Colchester, Braintree, Basildon, Southend, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Epping, Romford, Dartford, Harlow, Sudbury