You and your Broken Arrow exterminator can handle fleas if you find them in your home. These bloodsucking insect’s feed upon our fur babies. Our dogs and cats are special parts of our family and our exotic pets can be a victim to these insects as well. Fleas love the blood of any mammal, including us. So in order to keep them out of your home, it is important that you have access to some basic information about fleas and how they work. So in this article, let us take a good hard look at fleas, their life cycle and what you and your Broken Arrow exterminator can do to protect your home and your pets from these parasites.
FLEA LIFECYCLE AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Fleas use a complete metamorphosis to develop into the adults. Every flea will start as an egg. The female on the host animal will lay her eggs at the base of a piece of fur. As the animal scratches, that egg will fall off onto the ground. This will usually happen somewhere in the high traffic areas of the home or around the animal’s bedding. Here are the egg will wait until it senses a host animal near by through heat and vibration. Once it does sense that host animal, it will break out of its egg and come out as a larva. A larva is a worm stage of the flea.
This larva will search for food in the form of flea dirt. Flea dirt are the droppings of the adult fleas. They will deficate on the back of the host animal and as the host animal scratches, this dirt will fall off onto the ground. Flea larva will eat this dirt, getting nutrients from the undigested blood inside, and the gut biome will help them to break it down. At a certain point, the flea larva will finish developing as far as it can in this form.
It will need to pupate in order to move it to the next stage. This is where they find fur and dirt and other things around them, and create a cocoon. Inside this cocoon, the flea will develop into the full grown adult. Again, they will use heat and vibration to sense a host animal in the nearby area and then come out of the cocoon as a full grown adult. Contact your Broken Arrow exterminator for help with fleas.
FLEA JUMPING AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Once these fleas exit its cocoon stage, it’s next step is to find its way back to a host. Getting back to a host animal is extremely important for the flea because that’s where its food source is. In addition, other fleas will they be there which will give this adult flea the opportunity to mate. In order to survive over the winter months, the heat from the host animal will help to keep the flea alive and survive the winter months.
So, in order to get onto the host animal, they have developed the ability to jump far into the air. A very strong muscle down lateral portion of the flea will tense up and wait for a possible host animal to come near. Once it does, this muscle will fire, exerting energy on the powerful back legs, throwing it up to 50 times its own height into the air. These two back legs are gear together in such a way that forces them to both exert the exact same amount of energy when the flea jumps. This gives the flea the ability to aim accurately. Contact your Broken Arrow exterminator for more information.
ADULT FLEAS AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Once the flea is on the back of the adult, life gets really easy. Its front scissor like legs are hinged the opposite direction of most insects in order to give it the ability to hold onto the fur with a vice like grip. This gives them the ability to stay there even when the animal scratches. Fleas will pair off male and female and mate. Then the female will start the reproductive process over again by laying her eggs. In addition to this, the winter months will be a livable situation because the flea will be able to use the body heat of the host animal to survive.
Fleas are blood feeders. They have a sucking type mouth that has a long, narrow syringe that can be forced into the skin of a host animal. Fleas are not picky of the species that they feed off of. They could feed off of us, dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, squirrels, or any other mammal. All of this blood will feed them and allow them to go through their life cycle effectively. Of course, fleas do prefer animals with more fur and are more likely to stay on an animal with lots of fur. Your Broken Arrow exterminator can help you with fleas.
ELIMINATE FLEAS
Your Broken Arrow exterminator will be the first person you want to call when it comes to dealing with fleas in your home. They will have the technical savvy to be able to treat your home effectively. They will need to treat your home multiple times in order to get rid of the entire flea issue. Often the larva and adults will die after the first treatment. But the egg and pupated fleas will be safe from pesticides so they will need to be treated again in two weeks when these insects hatch. In the meantime, you can vacuum often in order to mimic the vibration and heat of a host animal to convince them to come out of their hiding.
If you’re having an issue with fleas or any other insects, then its time to call your Broken Arrow exterminator for help. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best in the business when it comes to fleas or any other parasites. We service the greater Tulsa area, including Broken Arrow, Claremore, Catoosa, Prattville, Coweta, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Owasso, Turley, Bixby, Jenks, and so much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!
