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Fleas

The flea has a complete life cycle. It depends on animals in order to complete its life cycle. Two stages of the flea depend on blood for survival - the adult and the larva. The adult flea ingests more blood then it needs and exudes the excess onto the animal which drops off as the animal moves, jumps or shakes. The dried blood then serves as a vital meal for larvae developing in carpets or furniture. The larva spends approximately one to two weeks feeding and goes through three in stairs. It then spins a cocoon around itself, normally collecting debris found in the base of the carpet. The pupa normally takes anywhere from 7 to 14 days to develop into an adult. The flea has developed and interesting self preservation mechanism. It does not emerge from the pupal case until pressure or vibrations from nearby footsteps indicate that a blood meal is close by. Fleas can spend up to one year in a pupal case. Temperature and humidity determine the length of the flea's life cycle. As the temperature rises, the flea life cycle is shortened. Research has shown that lower humidifies lengthen the life cycle. A complete flea lifecycle can be as short as two weeks or as long as one year. 

Customer Preparation

Preparations by the customer not only make a flea treatment more efficient, but it also helps prevent call backs. The most important thing a customer can do is vacuum the floors. This removes dirt and other debris from the carpet that could impede penetration of the insecticide, and removes many of the pre-emerged adult fleas that can cause customer complaints. Research has shown that vacuuming does not adversely affect that ability of most insecticides to control fleas. The customer should also remove items from the floor and from under the beds so all areas can be treated.

Treatment

The larvae is the most important stage of flea control. This may seem strange since the adult flea bites, but if you don't eliminate all the larvae, the population will continue. That's why the ideal flea treatment should include an adulticide and an insect growth regulator, which prevents the larvae from becoming adults.