Adult Fleas Are Only The Tip Of The Iceberg

Are fleas driving you and your pets crazy? Have you already washed all the bedding in the house and vacuumed all the rugs twice, but those fleas won’t go away? It can be a real pain to get rid of these blood-eating pests, especially if you don’t understand what you’re up against. The scary truth about fleas is that only 5 percent of the fleas in your home are adult fleas. Those are the ones you notice. Those are the ones that wiggle through your pet’s fur when you part it down the middle or spring onto you when you sit on the couch. But there is a vast population of fleas you don’t see.

Pupae Stage

The next highest population of fleas you’ll find in your home are fleas that have grown to the pupae stage. This is when they have matured enough to make their own cocoon. In this stage they will be hiding in your pet’s bedding, behind baseboards, under furniture, in your rugs, and in other out-of-the-way places. Cocooned pupae make up 10 percent of all the fleas typically found in an infested home.

Larvae Stage

These are the baby fleas, and they make up an alarming 35 percent of the flea population in your home. Why is this alarming? Because all those babies are going to eventually cocoon and turn into adult fleas that bite. In the Larvae stage, they don’t eat a blood meal. They eat pre-digested blood from adult fleas (called flea “dirt”). But someday, they will be crawling on your pet’s fur and crawling in your bed.

Eggs

Here is where it gets scary. Eggs make up 50 percent of the flea population in a home. These are laid in bunches of about 20 (usually in the fur of your pet) after a flea has had a blood meal. But, unlike many other insect eggs, flea eggs are not sticky. This allows them to roll off of your pet and “seed” the house.

What can we learn from all this?

If you’re trying to kill “adult” fleas, you will lose this battle. Adult fleas are only the tip of the iceberg. You need to kill the eggs, larvae, and pupae as well. This requires an application of special products to strategic areas inside your home.

If you’ve been battling fleas and you’re ready for the nightmare to be over, give Russell’s Pest Control a call. Our technicians know how to treat for fleas in a way that is safe for you, your children, and your pets. We don’t just kill adult fleas, we kill all stages of fleas in your home. If you were following the math, that is 100% of all the flea population in your home.