Flea Life Cycle

Learn about the Flea Life Cycle so you can understand just how nasty these critters are and get rid of them immediately!

 

Fleas are a problem because they reproduce so rapidly. A single female flea may produce up to 2,000 eggs over her lifetime. Eggs hatch and can develop into adults within only three weeks.

Within days, larvae hatch from the eggs and live undetected in your pet’s surroundings, such as the carpet, bedding and other protected areas.

Flea larvae spin a cocoon, and, when appropriately stimulated, a young adult flea emerges and jumps onto your pet to continue the life cycle.

Once you have Fleas in your house,
this is the distribution of what’s
in your house at any given moment:

50% are Flea Eggs
35% are Flea Larvae
10% are Flea Pupae
5% are Adult Fleas

 

Flea Life Cycle Breakdown …

The common Flea has four life stages. Flea Lifecycle includes Egg, Larva, Pupa and Adult. For a Flea to evolve from baby Flea to Adult Flea is about 30 days.

An adult female Flea lays eggs about two days after mating, and will produce anywhere from 30 to 50 eggs while on an animal each day. An Adult female Flea usually lives between 4 to 25 days.

 

Then it only takes from two to six days for the Flea eggs to formulate into Larvae. So the Flea cycle is never-ending … while one group of Fleas are dying – another group is coming alive, which makes things so much more fun for all of us to get rid of them. It’s a constant issue the pet owner has to deal with.

 

 

Flea eggs are not sticky, so they aren’t attached to your dog or cat. Flea eggs will fall off in places your pet walks, sleeps and rests (in carpet, bedding, yard, etc).

Then, these creepy eggs hatch into Larvae which feed off ‘Flea Dirt’, which is the Mother Flea’s Feces. In approximately one week, the Flea Larvae start spinning a cocoon.

The Larvae in the cocoons are now called Pupa. Once the Flea eggs get to this Pupa stage their resistant to dangers that kills the Flea in other stages of the life cycle. Most often, in normal circumstances – the Pupa stays in the cocoon state for about 15 days. If the climate or temperature is too cold, the Pupa will remain as a cocoon for up to one year.

 

Did You Know?

Adult Fleas can survive between 2 to 3 years between meals. At any given time, if you have Fleas in your house or yard – the Flea population looks like this: There’s about 50% Flea eggs, 35% Flea Larvae, 10% Flea Pupae, and 5% Adult Fleas. Female Fleas can lay 5000 or more eggs over their lifetime.

 

Once your cat or dog has Fleas, it’s important to not only get rid of the Fleas on your dog, (or Fleas on your cat) but to follow-up with treating your house and yard on a regular schedule so any remaining Flea eggs or Larvae don’t become adult Fleas and start the Flea infestation all-over again.