Fleas
Flea Life Cycle
Each female flea can potentially lay many eggs per day until they have laid up to 200 in their lifetime, which is approximately three weeks. The flea prefers to live its entire life on your pet. The eggs are deposited on your pet then fall off in the environment your pets routinely occupies. Some eggs may be laid in bedding by fleas who have fallen off your animal.
The eggs hatch in two to three days into a larval stage, {small thread like worm} which feed on dry flea droppings, {which is blood} and other organic debris. Within about a week or less these larva pupate, {encase themselves in a small cocoon} much like a caterpillar will do. In this pupae stage the larva will gradually become an adult blood sucking flea. Nothing that can be safely used in your home will penetrate this cocoon.
The adult flea must hatch, {hatching takes three to six weeks} and be exposed to the treated surface before the product we have applied will kill it.
Flea laid eggs hatch in 2-3 days, » larvae eats 5-7 days, » Flea is safe in its cocoon for 3 to 6 weeks.
Most of the flea population at time of treatment is protected from any product that can be safely used in your home, therefore the flea must emerge from its cocoon before they become vulnerable to our treatment. You and your pet become the main stimulus for the adult flea to emerge from its cocoon. The reason for this is because the vibration and pressure from you and your pets normal activity triggers the developing flea to hatch looking for blood.
Do not restrict your animal from its normal routine or you will become the dominant host instead of your pet.
It is very important to follow your veterinarian’s advice on spot treatments for your pet; many are available and this will help break the cycle.
Treatment/Products
Deluxe will use only products that are EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) registered for use in your home and yard. These products will kill adult fleas and larva, and will stop new fleas from developing to adults for up to nine months in your home, and 90 days in your yard, long enough to eliminate your flea population.
Preparation
Do not perform a complete mopping of treated floors for at least 30 days. Spot cleaning is OK. All pets and people must stay off treated surface until dry.
You can expect to have fleas for as long as three to six weeks after treatment. Most activity should be over in three weeks.
* Refer to flea life cycle above.
Deluxe offers many types of programs for flea control, as well as preventive treatments. Call us to find out more about the options that are available to you.
Cat Flea
Ctenocephalides felis
Description: Adults are small, 1/16 to 1/8 inch long, agile usually dark colored (reddish-brown to back), wingless and laterally flattened. Larvae are 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, whitish, slender, eyeless and legless. They have a well-developed head.
Life Cycle: egg » larva » pupa » adult
Where to Look: Fleas may be present without pets but require a furred host (dog, cat, opossum, raccoon, etc.) to breed and survive. They can jump and can enter structures and on shoes, clothing, etc. They typically are found where animals sleep, eat or travel. Classroom infestations are rare but may be associated with feral animals living around or under the structure.
Ticks
Lone Star Tick
Amblyomma americanum
Blacklegged Tick
Ixodes scapularis
American Dog Tick
Dermacentor variabillis
Brown Dog Tick
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Description: Adult females that have not engorged are 1/8 to 3/16 inch. Adult males that have not engorged are slightly smaller. The body is oval and flattened vertically. Nymph and adult ticks have eight legs. Engorged ticks may appear gray.
The adult female blacklegged tick is orange-brown except the legs, mouthparts and scutum, which are dark reddish-brown. Eyes are lacking.
The American dog tick is brown with whitish to grayish markings and often has a silvery hue. Eyes are present and found on the margin of the scutum.
Life Cycles: egg » larva » nymph » adult
Where to Look: Most ticks do not survive well indoors, the exception being the brown dog tick. Children and adults generally encounter ticks outdoors, where ticks wait on the tips of vegetation for a host to pass by. The other habitat most likely to harbor ticks is the den or nest of a mammalian host - mice, rats, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. Brown dog ticks live on dogs and drop off between molts to digest blood and lay eggs.