Do Fleas Help Or Hurt the Environment?
WouterFleas and ticks are common in suburban and rural areas. They enjoy warm, moist environments and thrive in temperatures above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. In colder temperatures, they die within five days. In such climates, fleas and ticks may move indoors and infest homes.
Fleas reproduce very quickly and can lay up to 40 eggs per day. They reach the final stage before becoming adults. Adult fleas can lay up to 3,000 eggs in their lifetime. This means that the pests can harm the environment as well as human health. While fleas don’t eat humans, they are a nuisance for many people.
Adult fleas are small, wingless insects that live on warm-blooded hosts. They are flattened from side to side and have many spines on their legs. They are approximately one-eighth of an inch in length. They can reproduce by transferring themselves from one host animal to another.
Fleas also transmit a disease called murine typhus, which can cause symptoms similar to flu. Insect-borne diseases such as this are increasing in number. Climate change may be a major cause as warmer summers increase flea populations. Changing weather patterns may also cause animals that host fleas to migrate to new areas.
Flea eggs are deposited on the surface of the host. The eggs hatch into larvae after a few days and need moist and warm environments to grow. The adult flea will lay as many as 800 eggs during her lifetime. The life cycle of a flea takes about twenty to thirty days to complete. The temperature below 55 degrees will hinder its development. Flea reproduction can occur throughout the year, although outdoor reproduction is limited to warm weather months.
