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The Zombie of All Pests: The Flea

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Fleas are among the most resilient insect species. They can survive without food for a year. They are mobile enough on their own, capable of leaping 10 to 13 feet in a single bound, and small enough to hitch a ride on pets and people to populate new areas. Fleas are resistant to most pesticide use because they undergo four life stages, each requiring a different extermination strategy.

Secret Life of Fleas

Adult fleas are capable of reproduction once they have fed on blood. Eggs are laid on a host animal but fall off quickly as the animal moves around. These eggs will hatch and turn into larvae between two and 14 days. Larva feeds on organic substances, including the blood meal, dropped by adult fleas as feces. With enough nourishment, flea larvae develop into the pupa stage, from which the adult flea emerges when stimuli such as heat and vibrations indicate the presence of a host.

Fleas can live up to several years without food as long as they remain in their cocoons. This stage is the least vulnerable to pest eradication techniques, according to The University of Florida IFAS Extension.

Winning the War on Fleas

Hardy pests require perseverance and professional-grade measures to eradicate.
Exterminators in Orlando are assured that infested homes and yards can become flea-free following a reasonable program that involves attacking the problem on three fronts: on the pet, in the house, and out in the yard.

Eliminating every flea is essential because one adult lays eggs in batches of 20 and can produce an estimated trillion descendants in nine months, given favorable conditions.

Pet Treatment

Pets are flea magnets. Using several flea remedies on a graduated schedule may be necessary to erase the flea population in pets. Treatments include topical spot applications, shampoos, powders, sprays, and oral medications formulated to make the pet’s blood repellent to fleas. Natural and organic remedies are available.

In-House Flea Extermination

Carpets, upholstery, and cracks in the floor are perfect hiding places for fleas such as eggs, larvae, pupa, and adults. This makes it very difficult to exterminate every last one of these creatures to prevent re-infestation.

The problem is especially pronounced in warmer regions that seldom experience a hard freeze as in the South. Orlando pest control experts suggest extermination methods, including carpet aerosols, floor sprays, foggers, and flea powders. Professional exterminators should include insect growth regulators that render adults incapable of reproducing.

Yard Flea Control

Yard treatment is best left to professionals knowledgeable about using adulticides and insect growth regulators to exterminate fleas and prevent re-infestation.

A Flea-Free Environment

Fleas cause disease and discomfort in pets and humans allergic to flea bites. Eradicating a flea infestation depends on timely intervention with flea control strategies, including help from flea control experts. Allergic dermatitis and intestinal tapeworms in pets are among the severe repercussions of flea infestation.

The complete extermination of the flea population minimizes the chance of a zombie-like recurrence of the infestation problem. Contact a flea control exterminator at ABC Home & Commercial Orlando.

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