Types of Fleas
Fleas can be very destructive and frustrating pests. In many parts of the United States fleas are active all year round creating a constant problem for pet owners.
Although there are over 2,000 species of fleas in the world, only a few common types affect domestic animals in the US.
Below is a list of host animals and the most common species of fleas that affect them.
- Swine – Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
- Chicken – Sticktight flea (Echidnophaga gallinacean)
- Ferret – Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
- Dog – Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis) or Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
- Cat – Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
Cat fleas are the most common type of flea found on both cats and dogs in the United States. Reports indicate that 95% of fleas found on both dogs and cats are cat fleas. Very few differences exist between the two species, in fact, they are so similar in appearance and biology that they can be treated as basically the same.
Cat fleas can be very harmful to their hosts. When a heavy infestation of cat fleas occurs on an animal blood loss may be great and can lead to negative health effects and even death (especially in young animals).
Fleas: What You Need To Know
There are over 2,000 species of fleas that exist! Of these species there are a few common types, all of which have nearly the same life cycle. In order to understand how to effectively eliminate an infestation it is first important to understand a flea’s lifecycle, what it needs to survive and where fleas can be found. Upon learning this crucial information you will be able to better treat an infestation or prevent one from developing.
An animal may pick up fleas when he or she comes in contact with another infested animal or an infested environment. Adult fleas live in the animal’s fur, where they feed on their host’s blood, mate and lay eggs (female fleas lay a few eggs per day and several hundred over the course of their lifetime). These eggs do not stay on the animal, but rather, they fall off and remain in the environment near the host animal until temperatures are suitable for them to develop in to larvae. This development often occurs during Spring or inside your home when the central heat has been turned on.
Flea eggs and larvae can be found both indoors and outdoors in carpeting, animal bedding, furniture, under porches, in dog houses, in cracks at wall-floor junctions, floor crevices and in other protected areas with high humidity where the infested animal may have been resting or playing.
Fleas: What are These Blood Sucking Parasites?
A flea is a wingless parasite that survives by feeding off the blood of mammals and birds. Over 2,000 species exist. Species include the cat flea, dog flea, human flea, Moorhen flea, Northern rat flea and the Oriental rat flea. The cat flea is the most common and is known to affect cats, dogs and humans.
Fleas are approximately 1/16 to 1/8-inch (1.5 to 3.3 mm) long and dark in color. They can easily move through their hosts hair or feathers due to their laterally compressed bodies and tiny hairs and spines. A flea’s body is very tough and can withstand great pressure, making them hard to kill by squishing or squeezing.
Second only to the froghopper, fleas are one of the world’s best jumpers relative to their body size. In fact, fleas can jump vertically up to 7 inches (18 cm) and horizontally up to 13 inches (33 cm). This is approximately 200 times their own body length!
There are four stages that make up the life cycle of a flea – egg, larva, pupa and imago or adult.
