Dealing with fleas is a great job for you and your Tulsa pest-control company. Fleas are a common pest that attack our pets and love ones. Dogs and cats are particularly susceptible to these insects but also your more exotic mammal pets are targets. These blood feeders are indiscriminate when it comes time to choose their food. Even us humans are fair game when they are searching for a meal. So in this article let us take a good hard look at fleas, their lifecycle that they go through and what you and your Tulsa pest-control company can do to protect you and your pets and your loved ones from these insects.
FLEA LIFECYCLE AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Fleas use a complete metamorphosis in order to develop into an adult. The adult flea lives the majority of its life on a host animal. Here the female will lay her eggs at the base of a piece of fur. As the dog or cat starts to scratch, those eggs will break loose and fall off onto the ground. That usually happens somewhere in a high traffic areas such as around their bedding. These eggs will wait until they sense the heat and vibration of a host animal nearby. Once they have sensed this, they will hatch and a flea larva will emerge.
The larva is the worm stage of the flea. This larva will crawl around in search of flea dirt in order to nurture itself. Flea dirt are the droppings of adult fleas. This dirt includes undigested blood from the adult flea. This will give the flea larva the nutrients that it will need to continue to grow. Once it gets to the completion of its larva stage, it will be time for it to go into the pupa stage.
The pupa stage is much like the cocoon of a butterfly. The larva will search for for dirt, or any other object you can use to create this cocoon around itself. Once it does this, it will be protected from pesticides or any other dangerous outside stuff. Here it will develop into the adult flea. Once it completes this development, it will stay in the cocoon until it senses the heat and vibration of a host animal nearby. And it will emerge from the cocoon as a full grown adult flea. Now it’s time for this flea to find its way onto a host animal. Contact your Tulsa pest control company for more information about fleas.
ADULT FLEAS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Once the adult flea has exited the pupa stage, it now needs to find its way onto a host animal. It will do this by jumping. The flea has the ability to jump large distances in order to land upon its host animal. And once it lands upon the host animal, it will use its powerful front legs in order to grasp the fur. These legs are hinged backwards in a scissor like fashion that gives the flea the ability to grasp tightly onto those pieces of fur. Once here, the flea will start by feeding on the blood of the animal. The mouth parts of the flea are a suction type. This long syringe like tube can be injected into the skin drawing out blood. Because of the nature of these blood feeders, diseases can often be transmitted through the bite of a flea.
Fleas will consume this blood and survive off of it. In addition to this, male and female fleas will find each other and mate. Once these fleas mate, the female will take a blood meal in order to build the energy up to lay her eggs, and then she’ll lay them at the base of a piece of fur. At this point, the process will begin all over again. In order to break the cycle, it’s important that you contact your veterinarian and your Tulsa pest control company to take care of this problem.
FLEA SOLUTIONS
Getting rid of fleas is a three-part process. The first part is contacting your veterinarian. The veterinarian is the only person that has the expertise and ability to get the fleas off of your animal. If you eliminate the fleas in your home, but not on your animal, you will have a problem in your home again in a matter of weeks. And vice versa, if you treat the fleas on your animal, but do not treat the ones in your home, you can end up with a flea problem on your pet again in a few weeks. Because of this, it is important to coordinate with both your veterinarian and your Tulsa pest control company.
Your Tulsa pest control company can treat the interior of your home. This part of the process includes multiple treatments that are used to kill off the insects in the other three developmental stages of life. Because the flea in its egg and pupa form are protected from pesticides, these pesticides can only kill larva and adult fleas. Once you have treated your pet, often these fleas will jump off into the carpeting and other areas. But once you’ve treated the first time, this will give you a temporary reprieve, because there will be no larva or adults. But as the eggs and pupa hatch, more fleas will come. The second generation must be taken care of with another treatment. This process is repeated over and over again until all the fleas are taken care of.
GETTING HELP FROM YOUR TULSA PEST CONTROL COMPANY
If you’re having an issue with fleas or any other pests, then its time to contact your Tulsa pest-control company for help. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with fleas or other insects. We service the greater Tulsa area, including, Broken Arrow, Claremore, Catoosa, Coweta, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Prattville, Bixby, Jenks, Owasso, Turley, and so much more. Call today for free estimate. We’re here to help!