Fleas | Hazardous Holiday Creatures | HolidayTravelWatch
Fleas are small, wingless, blood-feeding insects.
Fleas attack pets, man, and warm blooded animals (hosts) to feed.
Fleas are a parasite and some people are allergic to flea bites.
Most often it is your pet that is the “host” and they can cause other problems to your pet, such as skin irritations.
Fleas transmit disease and also tapeworms.
They can also transmit Typhoid fever and Bubonic plaque, which is no longer common.
A flea can jump 7-8 inches vertically and 14-16 inches horizontally.
Flea’s can live without a host for weeks.
Fleas are attracted to body heat, movement, and carbon dioxide exhaled.
Appearance:
Fleas average size is from 1/12-1/6 inch long. They are small with narrow bodies and have no wings. Their bodies are covered with spines that project backwards.
Diet:
Adults feed on blood of their ‘Host” and the larvae eat dried blood.
Habits and Biology:
The female flea lays a few eggs daily that total up to 300 to 400 in its lifetime.
The eggs are laid on pets or the host and most drop off where pets spend most of their time.
Pet bedding, floor crevices, carpeting and along baseboards are likely places to find the eggs.
Fleas go through a complete metamorphosis and the four stages are the eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult.
These eggs will develop into flea larvae from 2 days to several weeks, depending on the temperature and humidity.
Flea larvae are active and look like maggots.
The larvae will feed on organic debris, but particularly like to feed on faeces of the adult fleas.
The larva spin a cocoon (pupae) and depending on environmental conditions, emerge as a adult in as little as 5 days.
After a “blood meal” from the host the adult fleas will mate and lay eggs. The cycle repeats.
While it is estimated that there are more than 200 species of fleas in this country, the main troublemaker for pets is the cat flea.
Happy to feed on anyone in the household–cat, dog or human–these wingless insects will most likely choose a pet, whose fur provides warm camouflage for their breeding ground.
The main problem with fleas–itching–is due not only to their bites, but also to their crawling over the skin.
The NHS provides a good guide on how to deal with insect bites!
If you have been affected by any holiday complaints involving fleas, then please contact us at HolidayTravelWatch.
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