Flea and its varieties

Flea is a real cosmopolitan of the globe. Representatives of this squad can be found anywhere in the world. They are unpretentious, hardy and incredibly tenacious.
It is very difficult to crush a flea due to the special structure of her body, and strong, long legs allow her to jump to a distance of half a meter! Moreover, an adult insect can do without food for weeks, and everything that contains at least some organics goes to its larva feed.

High fecundity also contributes significantly to the prosperity of these parasites. One female can lay more than 1000 eggs, and for successful breeding it is enough for her to meet the male only once.

Classification

The flea squad includes more than 2000 species of insects. They are united in 15 families, which, in turn, consist of 200 genera. All of them have almost the same body structure and lifestyle. The classification of parasites is mainly on one basis - the type of animal on which they feed. Although insects do not have a strict specialization, they still prefer a certain type of blood. Currently, the most common types of fleas are:

• feline
• dog
  
• chicken
• human
• rat
• goat
• elk
• rabbit
• mouse.

The list goes on for a long time. There is, perhaps, not a single creature on Earth that does not have its own blood-sucking “parasite”. At the same time, parasites are not particularly picky when choosing food. In the absence of "their" animal, they easily switch to feeding on blood of another species. So, for example, a cat flea can be found on a dog, and a rat flea may well enjoy human blood. Such illegibility often leads to confusion when trying to classify the insect population, especially since the species differ little in structure and lifestyle.

Interesting fact! Fleas are extremely tenacious. It is a known fact that an insect frozen for a year woke up from hibernation and, as if nothing had happened, continued to live on.

Appearance and body structure

A flea has a unique body structure and a pretty awesome look under a microscope. Her entire little creature is adapted to a parasitic lifestyle. The body in the process of evolution turned out to be flattened in a vertical plane, the wings atrophied, and the legs lengthened and gained incredible strength and jumping ability. All these changes are designed to serve one single purpose - the survival of the species.

Appearance

What do fleas look like? In the fur of animals, these parasites are quite difficult to discern. They quickly move between the hairs and try not to catch the eye. Only characteristic traces of the stay can issue them:

• bites accompanied by scratching of the skin of animals;
• wounds and damage to the skin;
• dark spots of excrement.

The complexity of detection lies in the fact that fleas do not live on the animal permanently. They attack only to pump blood, and then jump and hide in dark, inaccessible places. You can see them only at the moment when the flea is saturated.At this time, they are especially vulnerable, as those engaged in food do not always have time to react and flee on time.

The size of a flea depends on its type. On average, they are from 2 to 6 mm in length and 1-4 mm in width. However, real giants are sometimes found among these parasites. For example, moose fleas can reach sizes of 12 mm. These are quite large insects, the bite of which is comparable in pain with a horsefly attack. However, such goliaths are extremely rare, because in order to be invisible, a flea needs small sizes.

The body shape of the parasite is also maximally adapted to life among the dense hair. It is flattened, like in bugs, but not in the horizontal plane, but in the vertical. This feature makes fleas also almost invulnerable to mechanical impact. They are very difficult to crush.

The color of the insect can vary from light red to dark brown and almost black. It mainly depends on the color of the coat of the animal on which they live. The more dark pigment contains hair, the darker the flea will be and vice versa.

Fleas have long, strong legs that allow insects to jump up to 30 cm in length. This jumping ability gave occasion to some people to think that they have wings. However, in fact, the flea does not even have an aircraft. They lost it in the process of evolution. So to the question: “How many wings does a flea have?” One can say with confidence - “Not at all!”

Body structure

A flea can be examined in more detail only with the help of a magnifying magnifier. Frankly, the sight is not for the faint of heart. The entire body of the insect, including the limbs, is covered with sharp spikes and hairs. They help the parasite to stay on the surface of the skin of the animal.

The flea’s head is small compared to the abdomen. On its front part there are short antennae and dark, small eyes. They have the simplest structure, and in some types of parasites they are completely absent.
The extremities of the insect have a joint structure. As a rule, they consist of 5 parts and end with sharp bifurcated claws. The legs are located on the front of the body. There are 3 pairs in total. The rear ones are slightly longer than the front ones and are mainly intended for jumping. With the help of the forelimbs, fleas move in animal hair.

On the back of the abdomen of parasites there is a special tactile organ, consisting of sensitive thin hairs. They are able to pick up the slightest fluctuations in air, warning insects about the approach of danger during feeding.

The mouth apparatus is piercing-sucking. Compared to other blood-sucking insects, it is relatively short, so the parasite has to deeply immerse its head in the integument of the animal's body in order to get to the blood vessels.

Interesting fact! Fleas are unusually hardy and strong. They are capable of carrying over 160,000 times their own weight and can make 30,000 jumps without stopping for respite.

Life cycle

A flea is an insect with a full cycle of transformations. This means that in the process of its development, it passes the stage of an egg, larva, pupa, and adult insect. Each stage has its own characteristics of life and body structure.

Egg

Flea eggs are white and very small - up to 0.5 mm in length. Females carry them for the time being in their abdomen, and then scatter them anywhere, with little concern for their offspring. They can be found between the villi of the carpet, on the leaves of grass, in the nests of birds, the litter of earthen holes.

The growth period of the larva in the egg is highly dependent on environmental conditions. The higher the temperature, the faster it will develop. On average, from the time of laying to the hatching of the nymph, it takes from 7 to 10 days.

Nymph

Larvae, or nymphs, have a completely different appearance from adult insects. Outwardly, they are small, up to 5 mm long, dark or whitish worms.As a rule, their trunk consists of 13 segments and is covered with rare long hairs. At one end of the body there is a large head with well-developed strong jaws.

Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that they have neither eyes nor legs. Yes, they do not need them. Nymphs do not feed on the blood of animals and live in the substrate, where they got in the form of an egg.

Having got out of it, the larvae immediately begin to feed. Everything that contains organic matter is suitable for food:

• excrement of adult insects with residues of undigested blood;
• decaying food debris;
• pieces of skin;
• plant juice.

As it grows, the nymph molt three times, and then folds a silk cocoon around itself and pupates. As a rule, the entire period of development of the larva takes from 10 days to 4 weeks, however, again, depending on the ambient temperature and the abundance of food, it can take up to several months.

Doll

Pupa is the penultimate stage of the development of a flea before its transformation into an adult insect - an adult. In a strong, silk cocoon, she will stay from 5 days to several months. In this form, she can wait out the harsh winter, and thaw with the first warm rays of the sun go out of her house and go in search of her victim.

Interestingly, the chrysalis can time its birth to a certain point. The slightest fluctuation of the surface of the earth from the clutches of a cat or dog and after a few seconds a young hungry flea will appear from the cocoon.

Imago

An adult insect or imago lives about 1.5 - 2 months. However, its life span may last indefinitely. The thing is that at critical temperatures below zero it falls into a kind of hibernation and thus awaits an unfavorable period. It is also easy for fleas to survive a long hunger strike. They can do without food for several months, without prejudice to their health.

Contrary to popular belief, fleas do not live on animals permanently. They attack only when they are hungry. A saturated bloodsucker jumps to the ground and hides until the next meal. As a rule, the digestion process takes about a day, after which the flea again goes hunting.

A hungry parasite is not particularly picky in choosing a power source. He will attack any warm-blooded creature that is nearby. Some species even bite snakes and caterpillars! Almost all species of fleas are distinguished by this omnivorous nature. The only exception is insects parasitizing on bats.

Adult fleas feed on blood for the rest of their life. They need it not only to sustain life, but also to continue a kind.

Interesting fact! Fleas are well versed in the composition of blood. For example, they easily distinguish a pregnant female dog from a non-pregnant one and try to stay close to her at this time in order to subsequently switch to a more convenient food source.

Breeding

How do fleas breed? This process in them is not much different from other blood-sucking parasites. The female is ready for fertilization immediately after leaving the cocoon. One meeting with a male is enough for her to lay eggs all her life. However, for their maturation, she needs fresh blood. Therefore, immediately after copulation, she seeks a victim for herself and does not calm down until she finds it.

Fleas do not have masonry as such. They simply scatter their eggs in different directions, forcefully pushing them out of the abdominal cavity. Smooth and dry, they fall off the surface of the animal’s body and fall on the substrate, in which the larva will further develop.

A female flea lays 25-50 eggs per day. Considering that her average life expectancy is from 4 weeks to 2 months, it turns out that during this period she will leave more than 1000 descendants! Such high fecundity ensured these parasites are widespread throughout the world.

Spread

Fleas are ubiquitous.Adult insects are found even in Antarctica! However, a moderate and subtropical climate is considered optimal for them. In these latitudes they are especially widespread and prosper. The largest insect populations are found in Asia, Africa and South America. Insects parasitizing on cats and dogs are found all over the globe. Only in Australia do they find fleas that feed on the blood of marsupials.

Fleas have no particular preference for locality. They feel great in the forest zone, parasitizing on mammals and birds, in the steppes, mountains, swamps. Wherever there are warm-blooded creatures, one can meet these parasites. The spread of a lot of people contributes to the transport of goods and animals from one point on Earth to another. Insect populations also migrate with animals and migratory birds.

If your home has become a haven for these parasites, you must immediately begin to fight them. You can find out how to do this from the article - How to get fleas out of the apartment: ways, methods and practical tips.

Interesting facts about the life of fleas can be found by watching this video: