All About Fleas – Can People Get Fleas? What Is Flea Dirt?

• If your dog is flea infested, you might be wondering if you will be bitten, and so the question, “Can People get fleas?” There are more than 2,000 varieties of flea, but only one that can survive on a human, thank the lord for that, but which one?. Well here we go… From all the flea species on earth, the only one that can live on a human is known as Pulex irritans, and this one feeds on human blood. It can live on your cat or dog blood as well. The Pulex irritans flea looks like the other types of fleas, but has fewer mouth bristles. Fleas are dark brown or black and are very small, having the shape of a tear. The bites of fleas on humans are mostly in the region of the head, but the arms and legs may also be target areas. The bites tend to be several in a row and the bite spot will swell and be extremely itchy. If you’re allergic to flea saliva you will also have a red ring surrounding the bite site. Fleas that typically infect our dogs cannot live on humans, as they cannot survive on human blood, but these species of fleas sure can take a free ride on human clothes or hair and can be transmitted to other dogs. Fleas are very difficult to get rid of, as they hatch and reproduce at alarming rates and can also travel easily from one host to the other by taking huge leaps. So there is the answer to can people get fleas?

 

• Fleas are the bearers of the bubonic plague, carried from rodents to humans when they suck our blood. An epidemic of worldwide mass proportions in Europe back in the 14th Century 25,000,000 people died from the disease. That was over one-third of the entire population of that continent. This epidemic was part of a worldwide epidemic, and from 1347 to 1351 over 75 million people died around the world.

• There are 1,830 different kinds of fleas known throughout the world.

• Flea pupae are basically indestructible; not even insecticides can kill them. All pupae must hatch into adults before they can ever be killed. It can take several weeks or months for pupae to hatch. Encouraging them to hatch by vacuuming is the quickest way to start eliminating your infestation.

• Reality check...More than 90% of the flea population goes unseen by the human eye. The flea eggs, larvae, pupa, and the few adults reside in your carpets, bedding, and living areas. ( what a terrible thought). So neglecting this majority of the population of fleas will ensure that your flea problem will continue to thrive and multiply over time. What a horrid thought that less than 10% of the flea population are on our pets, sad but true.

 

• Signs of a flea Infestation on your pets: When fleas come into contact with an insecticide, they go through an excited state prior to their death. When chemicals reach a fleas brain, they may become more activated. It may look like your flea problem is actually getting worse after treatment, but this activated state is most likely due to the fact that the fleas are beginning to die.
  • Constant itching and biting in dogs, or simply grooming in cats.
  • Flea poop in the fur (these consist of small grains of dried blood and look like coffee grains).
  • Small, red spots present on the skin.
  • Fleas may also be seen running through your pet’s fur, especially around the base of the tail.

   

• Flea Dirt is the common name for what looks like bits of black pepper or dirt on the skin and hair of your pets. It is actually the flea poop, composed mainly of the blood meal consumed by the flea from your poor pet. The blood is dried out, giving it a black, crackly appearance and texture.

• Adult fleas jump on your pet when they sense a host is near. The female flea can lay up to 50 eggs a day, 400 eggs in her lifetime. Eggs fall off your pet and develop into worm like larvae which hide in carpet, furniture, bedding and other dark places. The larvae mature as they feed on fecal matter dropped by adult fleas and the cycle continues.

• The time it takes for a flea egg to develop into an adult flea can vary from as little as 12 days to as long as 325 days.

• 95% of a fleas life-cycle occurs in the environment where the pet lives and sleeps, not on your pet.

• The environment, not other pets, is the source of your pet’s flea burden. This could be the backyard, your home, the nature strip or park. Fleas rarely jump from pet to pet.

• Fleas are the insects forming 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.

• There are 16 different families of fleas worldwide, consisting of about 2380 different species. The Pulicidae Family contains most of the introduced fleas such as the cat, dog and human flea, as well as some native species.

• Female fleas that are at reproductive age, consume large quantities of blood, relative to their size and weight.

• Fleas are parasites that feed on the blood of any warm-blooded body, such as pets or even humans.

• Fleas can transmit serious diseases, one being the bubonic plague.

• Fleas do not just disappear immediately after insecticide treatment. So you should still expect to see hatching for several days after insecticide flea treatment begins. Severe infestations can take as long as six to eight weeks to bring under control, due to huge numbers of flea pupae in the area.

• Insect growth regulators (IGRs) keep flea eggs from hatching by mimicking flea hormones. They may or may not affect pupae, and they have no effect on adult fleas. Some IGRs are topical our pets absorb them through their skin, and fleas ingest them with the hosts’ blood. One IGR, methoprene, is often used as a spray. The World Health Organization has also approved methoprene for use in controlling mosquito larvae in malaria-prone areas.

• The flea life cycle is going on in your lawn literally every few seconds! so after spraying a lawn for fleas, most people report a sudden increase in biting fleas approximately 2 weeks after the pesticide application. This is not due to the life cycle of the flea. It is, however, due to the pesticide beginning to break down to the point where it is no longer showing its best knock-down power. This is why a second spray is often needed, about 14 days from the initial application

• Insecticides kill adult fleas…IGR’s (Insect Growth Regulators) control eggs and larvae but nothing kills flea pupae!

• A flea may be able to live 1.5yrs under ideal conditions. These would include, the right temperature, ample food supply, and humidity. Generally speaking, though, the lifespan of an adult flea is usually about 2 to 3 months. Without a host for food, a flea’s life might be as short as a few days. But with ample food supply, the adult flea will often live up to 100 days.

• Many people have heard of flea circuses, but fewer have seen one. Flea circuses were a common form of entertainment until the 1800s, and there are only a few in existence today. Flea circuses feature tiny high wires, diving boards and other contraptions on which fleas appear to perform. Some flea circuses do contain real, live fleas, while others are purely illusion.

• Fleas are well known for carrying diseases and transmitting these and other parasites to people and animals. Flea larvae feed on tapeworm eggs. Once swallowed, the tapeworms begin to develop in the gut of the flea. If an animal swallows an tapeworm infected flea while grooming, that animal then becomes infected with tapeworm as well.

• Flea reproduction is similar to butterflies. The female lays eggs, which then hatch into maggot-like larvae. The larvae spin cocoons and become pupae. The pupae emerge from the cocoon an adult fleas.

• Fleas cause pets to develop what is known as “Flea Allergy Dermatitis”. Pets who are severely allergic to flea saliva can become so itchy (pruritic) as a result of the flea bites that they literally scratch and chew to the point of tearing their skin and fur apart.

• Flea pupae can stay in their cocoons for up to a year, waiting to sense the body heat and vibrations that signal the presence of nearby hosts.

• There are four stages in a flea’s life cycle which consist of, egg, larva (maggot= yuk), pupa (cocoon) and then finally the hideous, blood-sucking adult emerges.

• Flea eggs make up 50% of the flea population. They hatch into larvae in 1 to 10 days, depending on temperature and humidity. High humidity and temperature favor rapid.

• Flea larvae are slender and about 2-5 mm (1/8 – 1/4) in length. They feed on organic debris found in their environment and on adult flea feces, which is essential for successful development. They avoid direct sunlight and actively move deep into carpet fibers or under organic debris (grass, branches, leaves, or soil). They live for 5 to 11 days and then pupate.

• Fleas have 4 stages in their life cycle. The only stage of the fleas life cycle when we can actually visibly see them is when they reach the adult stage. The scary fact is that the adult flea only makes up for about 5% of the entire flea population.

• Flea eggs are pearly white and about 1/2 mm (1/32 in). in length and they are too small to see without magnification.

• Hystrivhopsylla schefferi is the largest known species of flea. It is a very rare kind found associated with Mountain Beavers, and it is one third of an inch long.

• The nursery rhyme- “Ring around the Rosy” is referring to and describes the terrible deaths caused by the “Bubonic Plague” or more commonly known as “Black Death” epidemic in the 14th century.

• A flea may remain cocooned for as long as 6 months, waiting for something to touch it to cause it to emerge as the hungry adult. Once touched it can only hatch in 1 second and jump onto you and begin feeding in only 3 seconds or more.

• A female flea may consume up to fifteen times her own body weight in blood each day, to support the huge production of eggs.

• A flea capable of jumping up to 8 inches high (some people say as high as 34 inches!!), or about 150 times its own height. This is certainly worthy an Olympic Medal, and would be the equivalent of a human leaping over 1000 ft high. It can jump horizontally about 13 inches, or 100 times its body length.

• Fleas can survive for months without feeding. They can remain frozen for a year and survive. When first emerged as a hungry adult flea they can jump 40,000 times without a break, in their search for food.

• The “Flea Circus” is real. There actually are people who will hitch living fleas to tiny carriages with gilded wires, and in the fleas struggle to escape it causes them to appear to dance, jiggle, or otherwise move things around.

• In Mexico you might find “pulgas vestidas”, or “dressed fleas” for sale. Fleas are dressed up in costumes and posed holding tiny loaves of bread, tools, or whatever.

• In the 1920’s an unusual craze involved dressing up dead fleas as bride and groom and putting them on display.

• A Female flea can only lay eggs and reproduce once she has eaten.

• Moisture is essential for the survival the flea in the immature stages. Larvae are killed by drying. Therefore, it is unlikely that they survive outdoors in shade-free areas. Outdoor larval development occurs only where the ground is shaded and moist and where flea infested pets spend a significant amount of time. This allows flea feces to be deposited in the environment. In an indoor environment, larvae survive best in the protected warm environment of carpet or in cracks.

• There are three main species of fleas that infest humans:
  • Cat flea – (Ctenocephalides felis)
  • Dog flea- (Ctenocephalides canis)
  • Human flea – (Pulex irritans).

 

• Adult fleas can survive for for months without feeding. So whilst you are away on vacation the ravenous fleas are patiently awaiting your return. yuk…

 

• The flea uses its saw-like mandibles (jaws) to slice through skin, usually on accessible parts of the body such as the legs or feet.

• Fleas generally prefer the blood of our four-legged friends to human blood, so before you went on your holiday he fleas fed on your pets, not on you.

• Flea saliva contains anticoagulants to encourage the blood to keep flowing.

• Fleas are minuscule, flat, wingless insects that are legendary at jumping and absconding from being caught. Their bodies are covered with hard plates called sclerites, so if you do catch one, squishing it can be a real challenge. Their hard outer shell protects the flea from their assailants teeth or from hitting the floor after a long jump.

• A flea also has spines around its head and mouth. The number and shape vary according to a fleas species. The mouth of the flea is superbly adapted for piercing the skin and sucking blood. Several mouth-parts come together to form a needle-like siphoning tube.

• An average fertile female flea lays between 200 to 500 eggs over her entire lifespan.

• When fleas bite people and animals they cause itchy, red bumps. This itchy and bumpy reaction happens as a result of a substance produced by a fleas saliva, and some peoples reaction to these substances more strongly than others.

• Fleas have flattened bodies with backward-pointing hairs to make it easy for fleas to crawl through their hosts’ fur.

• It is very hard to dislodge a flea from the host because of the backward-facing hairs that act like tiny velcro fasteners.

• Flea collars can help keep fleas off of your pets, but in general they don’t have much effect on established flea infestations.