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The adults are roughly 1.5 to 4 mm in length and are laterally flattened. They are dark brown in color, are wingless, and have piercing-sucking mouthparts that aid in feeding on the host's blood. Both genal and pronotal combs are absent and the adult flea has a rounded head. Most fleas are distributed in the egg, larval, or pupal stages.
Without a host to provide a blood meal, a flea's life can be as short as a few days. Under ideal conditions of temperature, food supply, and humidity, adult fleas can live for up to a year and a half. [16] Completely developed adult fleas can live for several months without eating, so long as they do not emerge from their puparia. Optimum ...
The pests live in four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult fleas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults are commonly found on pets and feast on their blood for ...
Fleas cannot withstand high temperatures, so a turn through the dryer on medium or high kills fleas on clothing. [10] Water and detergent. Fleas can be drowned by immersion for about 24 hours; they may appear to be dead if immersed for shorter times, but can revive after some hours. [11]
The most infamous flea-to-human transmitted disease is the bubonic plague, which was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Problems caused by fleas may range from mild to severe itching and discomfort to skin problems and infections. Anemia may also result from flea bites in extreme circumstances. Furthermore, fleas can transmit tapeworms and diseases to pets. When fleas bite humans, they may develop an itching rash with small bumps that may bleed.
While not a flea, the biting insect no-see-ums (family Ceratopogonidae) are sometimes mistaken for sand fleas.These are small flies found in salt marshes and swamps that leave itchy bites. There ...
Daphnia pulex is the most common species of water flea. [3] It has a cosmopolitan distribution : the species is found throughout the Americas, Europe, and Australia. [ 4 ] It is a model species , and was the first crustacean to have its genome sequenced.