Life Cycle & Habits

o      Completion of Life Cycle from EGG to ADULT varies - from 2 wks to 8 months.

o       Normally the female flea lays 15 to 20 eggs per day & up to 600 in a lifetime.

o       Usual hosts for fleas are dogs, cats, rats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, possums, foxes, chickens, and humans.

o       Eggs loosely laid in hair drop out where the pet rests, sleeps or nests (rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, cat or dog houses, kennels, sand boxes, etc.)

o       Larvae are blind, avoid light, pass through three larval stages and take a week to several months to develop.

o       Larvae eat digested blood from adult flea feces, dead skin, hair, feathers, and other organic debris.

o       Pupa mature to adulthood within a silken cocoon woven by the larva to which pet hair, carpet fiber, dust, grass clippings, and other debris adheres.

o       In about 5-14 days, adult fleas can emerge or may remain resting in the cocoon until the detection of vibration (pet & people movement), pressure (host animal lying down on them), heat, noise, or carbon dioxide (meaning a potential blood source is near).

o       Adult fleas cannot survive or lay eggs without a blood meal, but may hibernate from 2 months to 1 year without feeding.

o       In just 30 days, 10 female fleas under ideal conditions can multiply to over a quarter million different life stages.

o       Optimum temperatures for the flea’s life cycle is 70 – 80 degrees F and optimum humidity is 70%.