Flea is the common name for a few of the tiny flightless insects of the Siphonaptera (numerous authorities use the name Aphaniptera because it is older, but names above class rank do not need to follow the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) rules of priority, and so most of taxonomy experts apply the most known name). Fleas are outside parasites, living upon hematophagy of mammals and birds. Hematophagy is the habit of certain animals that feed upon blood.

Fleas are tiny and their size may range from 1/16 to 1/8-inch (1.5 to 3.3 mm) long, quick, generally dark colored, that's how come fleas commonly live in dark areas to hide their existence there. They're flightless insects with tubelike mouth-parts modified to feed upon the blood of their hosts. Their bodies allow easy movement through the hairs or feathers upon the body of their host's (or in the case of humans, underclothing). Their legs are long, the posterior pair easily modified for leaping. The fleas body is tough, smooth, and covered with a lot hairs and short spines directed backwards, which also aids its movements upon the host. They're hard body is capable to withstand great pressure, likely an adjustment to survive scratching. Even squeezing the flea hard between the fingers in most cases is generally insufficient to kill the flea; frequently it's required to catch them with some adhesive material, crush them between the fingernails, roll them between the fingers, or place them in a fire-safe area and burn them with matches or a lighter. They could likewise be drowned.

Fleas experience three life cycle stages which are best-known as larva, pupa and imago (full-grown). The fleas life cycle starts out when the egg-producing flea lays after eating. Full-grown fleas must feed upon blood prior to them being able to become capable of reproduction. Eggs are laid in batches of upwards to 20 more or less, normally on the host itself, which easily roll into the ground. As such, places where the host relaxes becomes among one of the basic habitats for eggs and developing fleas. The eggs take approximately two days to a fortnight to hatch. Flea larvae emerge from the eggs to feed upon whatever is available organic stuff such as dead insects, feces and veggie matter. It's very revolting and dirty, isn't it? Given there's decent supply of food, larvae should pupate and weave a shinely cocoon within 1-2 weeks after the 3 larval phases. Later on another week or two the full-grown flea is fully ready to come out from the cocoon. When the flea gets to maturity its main goal is to locate blood since it's needed in order to reproduce. Fully grown fleas merely have approximately a week to locate food After they emerge, although they can survive two months to a year between meals. They're tiny but have an amazing population.

There are truely so many places that can be the fleas host for breeding at home. Most of the areas are pets and family goods such as carpetings, couches, beds etc. Pets bring in the fleas into our homes. Really, fleas have numerous species, but a few well known flea species are:

"Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis), "Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis), "Human flea (Pulex irritans), "Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus), and ?Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)

These are the common fleas which live close to our lives. On my last post about What causes carpet fleas?" it noted that nearly all of the carpet fleas are caused by pets. Since you now know how fleas grow, our animals as the host bring in the fleas only to finish up in your carpets and the type of carpet fleas will be among the species above. Why should you want to know what type of carpet fleas they are? If you recognise what type of carpet fleas there are, you will be able to know how they live and their characteristics. There are a lot of different features between them and of cause there are different ways to get them come out of the closet from your carpet. For instance, some fleas can be killed with pesticides only, whilst some others can't be killed by pesticides. That's how come you need this information in order to determine the most effective way to get carpet fleas out of your carpeting.

Next we'll discuss in detail what types of carpet fleas there are and what disease the carpet fleas could cause.