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Flea Treatment, Eradication and Extermination
Whether it’s your home or your business at threat, flea infestations can cause extreme disruption.
For many businesses especially, the mere suggestion that your premises may be subject to a flea problem is enough to cause irreparable damage to your reputation.
With the help of our industry leading pest control solutions however, we can help develop quick, efficient and discreet solutions to the most challenging of flea infestations.
Flea Treatment
Fleas are tough; their bodies are able to withstand great pressure. Even hard squeezing is usually not enough to kill them.
Prevention in this case, is far easier than cure. To prevent fleas from becoming an issue, clean and vacuum the home or office space regularly.
Protect your pets from infestation by cleaning their bedding. Keep dogs on leads when you take them out and ensure regular visits to the vets for check-ups.
Abandoned birds’ nests can harbour fleas. It may be necessary to remove them and treat the home with a residual insecticide. It will usually take at least two treatments to combat the problem.
We ask customers to vacate their property for a few hours while the treatment is carried out to allow any residual insecticide spray to dry.
About Fleas
Fleas are insects that form the order Siphonaptera. They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood.
Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds.
Flea Life Cycle
Fleas are holometabolous insects, going through the four lifecycle stages of egg, larva, pupa, and imago (adult).
Adult fleas must feed on blood before they can become capable of reproduction.
Flea populations are distributed with about 50% eggs, 35% larvae, 10% pupae, and 5% adults.
Eggs
The flea life cycle begins when the female lays after feeding.
Eggs are laid in batches of up to 20 or so, usually on the host itself, which means that the eggs can easily roll onto the ground.
Because of this, areas where the host rests and sleeps become one of the primary habitats of eggs and developing fleas.
The eggs take around two days to two weeks to hatch.
Larvae
Flea larvae emerge from the eggs to feed on any available organic material such as dead insects, feces, and vegetable matter.
In laboratory studies, some dietary diversity seems necessary for proper larval development.
Blood-only diets allow only 12% of larvae to mature, whereas blood and yeast or dog chow diets allow almost all larvae to mature.
They are blind and avoid sunlight, keeping to dark places such as sand, cracks and crevices, and bedding.
Pupae
Given an adequate supply of food, larvae pupate and weave silken cocoons within 1–2 weeks after three larval stages.
After another week or two, the adult fleas are fully developed and ready to emerge.
They may remain resting during this period until they receive a signal that a host is near - vibrations (including sound), heat, and carbon dioxide are all stimuli indicating the probable presence of a host.
Fleas are known to overwinter in the larval or pupal stages.
Adult Flea
Once the flea reaches adulthood, its primary goal is to find blood and then to reproduce.
Its total life span can be as long as one and one-half years in ideal conditions.
Female fleas can lay 5000 or more eggs over their life, allowing for phenomenal growth rates.
Generally speaking, an adult flea only lives for 2 or 3 months. Without a host for food a flea's life might be as short as a few days
