Pest Management for Fleas

Fleas or Siphonaptera are a common household pest that includes over 2,400 individual species that share similar behaviours as external parasites that ingest blood and can leap up to 50 times their body length. They were the infamous carriers of the bubonic plague, a disease which killed 75-200 million people between 1346 and 1353. Today, they are better known for transmitting parasites such as tapeworms along with diseases such as typhus.

These small, brownish-black (1 mm to 4 mm, or less than 1/6″) insects can bite their hosts repeatedly, causing an allergic reaction. Fleas are known to infest dogs and cats, but can also jump on and bite other animals and people. Scratching these itchy bites can lead to secondary infections, especially in pets and children.

While prompt use of flea shampoo may prevent infestations, more aggressive measures are usually required once fleas have established themselves indoors, as a single female flea can produce up to 2,000 eggs per lifetime. Additionally, their growing resistance to insecticides and medications as a species translates into treatment requiring multiple sessions to effectively kill all eggs, larvae and adults in a given area.

If you have seen small hopping insects around the entryways of your home or find small clusters of multiple, incredibly itchy bites on your legs and lower torso, you may have fleas, and a household treatment may be the only way to ensure a clean slate. For effective solutions against fleas and other pest infestations in Toronto, North York, Whitby, Scarborough, and surrounding areas, rely on Advantage Pest Control.