Fleas کک ها

A number of small arthropods can bite man and his animals. These include arachnids such as spiders, ticks, chiggers, and insects such as head or body lice, fleas, mosquitoes, biting flies, amd others. All of these arthropods have different life cycles and biological requirements.

Fleas are a particularly severe pest problem in many parts of the country. To properly develop an effective control program for fleas, it is necessary to first understand the biology of these insects.

Fleas are insects with a very specialized body design. Like most insects, fleas have three pairs of legs, three body regions, and a pair of antennae. However, adult fleas lack wings.

A flea's body design is specialized in that it has an oval and laterally flattened shape and large legs. This allows it to easily move between the hairs or feathers of its animal host.

Other specialized body parts of a flea are the genal and pronotal combs. These are projections around the mouth and base of the head. These combs help the flea lock into the hairs and feathers of the host and prevent it from being dislodged.

Immature fleas hatch out of their eggs resembling worm-like larvae. Like the eggs, these larvae are extremely small and difficult to see.

This is a pre-emerged adult in a cocoon that was opened up. A flea can survive for a long period of time as a PRE-emerged adult. As an emerged adult, a flea usually survives 7-10 days without a meal from a host. However, some cases of emerged adults surviving up to two months have been recorded.

In order to control fleas effectively it is necessary to understand their ecology as well as their biology. A proper understanding of the biology and ecology helps determine the best approach to control. This is necessary to develop an effective integrated pest control program for fleas.

Close up of flea head.

A female flea lays an average of about 14 eggs each day on the host. These eggs rapidly fall off the host onto the floor. Once off the host, the eggs require certain environmental conditions to survive and hatch. Eggs tend to accumulate where the host animal spends most of its time