After the final molt, pupae or cocoons are formed. The development takes from one week to several months. The larvae molt three times, increasing in size each time. The newly hatched young, or larvae, are white and worm-like, with a well-developed head but no eyes. Although the eggs are laid in the fur of the host, they can drop into nesting material, crevices on the floor and/or into host bedding.Įggs hatch within 2-21 days of deposition. Eggs are white, oval in shape and 1/32" in length. Cat fleas lay about 25 eggs after each blood meal and may lay more than 1000 eggs during their lifetime. There is also variation in the number of eggs laid by different species. The duration of egg development is dependent on environmental factors, such as temperature. First, females take a blood meal and egg development begins. The only variation between life cycles is the time spent in development of each stage by various species. The life cycle of all fleas consists of the following: egg, three stages of larvae, pupae, and adult. Ingesting adult fleas during grooming can infest healthy cats and dogs. Adult fleas contain cysts with the tapeworms inside of them. Cat fleas may also serve as intermediate hosts for the development of dog tapeworms. People and pets that are allergic to flea bites can develop dermatitis or hair loss and intense itching may result. Pets that are heavily infested with fleas may experience secondary bacterial infection of the bite sites due to intense scratching. In plague transmission, cats become infected and then they transmit the pneumonic (air-borne) form of the plague by sneezing on or around their owners. Fleas from the host animal can sometimes transmit diseases to healthy people. House cats that hunt outdoors sometimes bring the host animals (rat, chipmunk, or ground squirrel) inside. Most infections occur in hikers, or people frequenting the habitats where hosts of these fleas occur. Some fleas such as the northern rat flea, the ground squirrel flea, and fleas found on prairie dogs are vectors of sylvatic plague, bubonic plague, murine typhus and tularemia. Larvae feed on the dried blood that is expelled in the feces of adult fleas and occasionally on molts from other larvae. What do fleas feed on?Īdult fleas feed on the blood of their host animals (cat, dog, human, rat, mouse, squirrel, etc.). All immature stages including eggs, larvae, and pupae are found in pet bedding, in crevices on the floor, and in the nests of their hosts. While the adults do spend the majority of their time on hosts they can also be found away from the host in carpets on furniture, etc. Unlike many ectoparsites (parasites that are found on the skin of mammals), fleas do not spend all their time on hosts. There are a few other species that can be encountered by hikers or campers, but are uncommon inside homes. canis (Curtis), the human flea, Pulex irritans (L), and the Oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) are other common fleas in North America. The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouche) is most common in the USA and occurs on both cats and dogs. Adults have piercing-sucking mouthparts through which they feed on the blood of their vertebrate hosts. They have well-developed hind legs that help them to jump from host to host. Adult fleas are wingless, reddish-brown, tiny insects (1/8"), which are flattened from side to side.
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