Cat Fleas
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COMMON NAME: Cat flea
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ctenocephalides fells (Bouche)
CLASS I ORDER I FAMILY: Insecta l Siphonaptera / Pulicidae
METAMORPHOSIS: Complete
INTRODUCTION: Fleas are one of the more important groups of insect pests because they not only cause pain and discomfort by biting, but they also can transmit several diseases such as plague and murine typhus. Cat fleas are distributed and found throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
RECOGNITION: Adults are about 1/8” long. The body is laterally flattened (side to side) and is wingless. The cat flea is brownish black to black, but is reddish black when full of blood. The female's head is twice as long as it is high. The flea’s ahs compound eyes that are well developed. Both genal and pronotal combs are present and each is composed of 16 spines. The genal comb's first 2 anterior spines are of approximately equal length. The femur of its hind leg has 7-10 bristles on the inner side and the abdominal terga (dorsal plate of segments) number 2-6 have a single row of bristles. In addition, the antennae are short and are 3-segmented. The flea lacks ocelli and is equipped with long legs and large coxae. The tarsi is 5-segmented is usual with jumping insects. As you might suppose, the fleas’ mouthparts are for piercing-sucking with well-developed palps.
The mature larvae is about twice the length of the adult (1/4") and the larvae is whitish, slender, eyeless, and legless. The head is well-developed. Fleas have 2 anal struts/hooks which are small. Fleas have moderately long, backward-projecting hairs called setae encircling each body segment. The last abdominal segment (the 10th) has 3 ventrolateral hairs, or setae.
BIOLOGY: Females of fleas lay between 4-8 eggs within a few hours after each blood meal, laying up to 500 during their lifetime. The eggs are not glued/stuck to the hairs or body but are deposited on or between hairs, or in the nest or bedding material. Since this type of egg deposit is used, eggs laid on the animal either fall or are shaken off, and are frequently found in cracks and crevices close to where pets sleep or frequent. The eggs are oval, whitish, and about 1/64" long. Since their size is so small, it id often difficult to find them. They will usually hatch in a range of 1-12 days.
Flea larvae move about using the setal rings and abdominal struts/hooks for locomotion. They have chewing mouthparts and feed on organic debris but almost all require dried fecal blood in order to complete development; they do not bite but feed on adult flea fecal blood. Larvae require high relative humidity (up to 95%) and from 1-2 weeks to several months they to go through 3 instar molts. The last instar larvae, then spins a silken-like cocoon and incorporates surrounding debris on the immediate surface, which provides camouflage. Under the most favorable conditions, this pupal stage may last from 4-14 days or up to a year under harsh conditions. This is the reason fleas are difficult to understand and control. The pre-emerged adult remains in the cocoon for up to 20 weeks, where it is protected from adverse conditions, including pesticides. Heat will kill the flea during this stage. It is believed that adults are stimulated to emerge from the cocoon by mechanical depression of the cocoon, an increase in temperature, and possibly vibrations. Larvae and pupae are typically found where the animal sleeps or frequents.
Adults begin to seek a blood meal on the second day after emergence, but can live for several months on stored body fat. Once on a host, they tend to spend all of their time on the host, feeding, mating, and laying eggs, unless they are dislodged. Although they have a preferred host, they will readily bite and can survive using other species as hosts such as rabbits, squirrels, rodents and humans. Depending on conditions, adults usually live for only several days due to normal cat grooming removes up to 50% of the fleas; otherwise, they could survive about a year.
It is thought that cat fleas act as a vector and transmit plague. There is a high possibility and strong circumstantial evidence that they may transmit murine typhus. Cat fleas serve as the intermediate hosts of the dog tapeworm, and the rodent tapeworm. These tapeworms occasionally infest humans, especially very young children when ingested by children. The dog tapeworm will commonly infest cats that spend time outdoors.
HABITS: The necessity to have pets in the building in order to have fleas present is false. Since fleas can jump about 6" (15 cm) vertically, they can easily hitch a ride on shoes, trousers, etc. Fleas are assisted in getting a good start when ample hiding places are found. Having boxes, clothing, toys or other items lying on the floor where the flea can hide creates this condition. Spray application of insecticide is limited to the area able to be sprayed, so be sure to pick up or remove all that covers the floor covering that will be treated.
Do you remember coming back from a vacation and being attacked by fleas? This can occur even if the building has been vacant of animals and people for up to 6 months or so. This situation occurs because of the potentially long period a flea can remain as pupae. Adults can live for many months without food. Fleas can be removed via normal vacuuming. This is probably the most important step in preventing, or controlling a flea outbreak. Regular and thorough vacuuming is essential in preventing a flea outbreak. Also, fleas are normally removed from the interior environment by taking up residence on the pet(s), which become vectors in controlling them.
Fleas are generally found in areas where animals sleep or visits, including along their usual avenue of travel, because this is where eggs and adult fecal blood can fall off and accumulate. Most larvae will be found in similar places but especially in areas with high moisture. This high humidity is necessary for their survival. Pupae will be found in the same situations as larvae. Such places include both indoor and outdoor situations. Cat fleas are also found on other urban hosts such as opossum, fox, mongoose, and occasionally rats.
Flea larvae die at relative humidifies below 45% and above 95%. They are rarely found outdoors in arid climates. Larvae fail to develop at temperatures below about 550F and at or above 950F.
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