Overview
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Flea beetles are tiny but destructive pests in your house landscape. You’ve probably seen the damage in the small holes spread across your prized ornamental kale or hosta. There are lots of insect models, and meanwhile, they attack a broad range of vegetation.
Flea beetle control is a battle that relies upon 3 levels of approach. Luckily, Getting Rid of flea beetles is not too hard once you understand the best work techniques. Comprehending this annoying pest’s lifecycle and feeding practices will even enable you to take measures to avoid harm before it happens.
What’s a flea?
Fleas belong to the fully metamorphic order of fleas (Siphonaptera). Commonly known as Gezi, fleas are small, wingless, jumping parasitic insects, and with adult fleas, they usually living in mammals and a few in the Birds. Antennae are thick and short, and Mouthparts are sharp and used for sucking. Also, the abdomen is broad and has nine segments. Hind legs are well developed and stout. Pupae encased in cocoons.
Adult fleas are tiny or small, wingless, hard, and laterally flattened, parasitic on mammals and birds. Larvae are blood-sucking, footless, and cylindrical while having chewing mouthparts and feeding on adult blood or organic matter.
Life habits of fleas
The fleas’ life history is completely metamorphic and is divided into four stages: egg, larva, cocoon, and adult.
Fleas are ectoparasites of animals or humans, and the most significant and most common hosts are rodents, dogs, cats, or humans.
Both male and female adult fleas have to suck blood. And the female flea cannot lay eggs. In natural conditions, the Daphnia Magna sucks blood at least 2-3 times a day. The selectivity of hosts and the specificity of blood-sucking are not so stringent in various flea species, and some fleas have a wider range of hosts (e.g., Daphnia Magna). Thus they can change hosts frequently.
Dispersal occurs through rodent burrowing, herding, hunting, and seasonal migration. Fleas also have an active habit of leaving their original hosts searching for new ones and the ability to jump (up to 19.7 cm and up to 33 cm). In the event of an epidemic of bubonic plague, which killed many infected rats, it actively sought new hosts and endangered humans.
How long do flea live?
They can produce 1 to 4 generations per year.
Each larva feeds on origins for three weeks and stays in the dirt for approximately seven days after pupating. Then, the adult fleas come out of the ground and live through the winter season for a couple of years. There is no specific time-frame as every species differs and also the planet, food accessibility, and heat all immediately alter the lifetime of a flea beetle.
No matter, do not depend on them to disappear by themselves since they will not. You will only need damaged plants and a more significant public to cope with next season.
Where do flea live?
The habitat of fleas depends on the habits of the host and the influence of external factors. For example, the larvae of the parasitic Cyclops fleas are mostly found in rodent nests, and whereas the larvae of the fleas are primarily found in bedsteads, bedding, wall and footpaths. The adult flea habitat varies between flea species, such as the hairy flea, the nesting fleas, and the dangerous fleas being more likely to inhabit the host’s hairy bush. They are more frequent bloodsuckers with hunger tolerance and higher temperature requirements, e.g., the cyclops flea, dog flea, and cat flea are these kinds of insects; the collector flea is more parasitic. The host nest, which is less blood-sucking but more hungry and less demanding of temperature, tends to have large numbers of fleas in the nest, mostly Field mice parasitic fleas are of this type.
How to get rid of flea beetles naturally
If you want to get rid of fleas thoroughly, you must first maintain your home environment’s hygiene. Generally, the environment is dirty and unhygienic that is suitable for fleas, so it is essential to pay attention to the environment in daily life. As long as the environment is improved, there is no ideal habitat for them, and they will not come out naturally.
- Keep cleaning every day.
If it’s in your house, you can use a vacuum cleaner to remove all the dust from the room and sprinkle some pesticide on the infested areas. The next thing is to keep indoor items placed in an orderly manner and don’t pile some clothes or other things together. In short, the principle of indoor environmental health is neat and tidy, so that fleas will keep out of your house.
- Keep indoor ventilation
Humid environments tend to breed fleas, so if the room is damp and drafty, be sure to open the windows or close the curtains. Sun exposure can make the indoor environment improve. Keeping the place dry and ventilated regularly can prevent fleas from appearing, as this is not the ideal environment for their survival.
- Be sure to remove fleas from the pets you have.
Pets can have parasitic fleas on their bodies. If you don’t pay attention to your pet’s hygiene, you’re likely to get many fleas due to constant touch between people and pets. It is likely to spread to the living room or even to a person. Therefore, it is essential to clean fleas from your pet’s body.
If you find fleas on your pet, it is better not to put your pet in the living room, and it should be in a separate place to prevent fleas from your house. You can make a particular space for your pet and train it to rest and play by itself.
- Change your clothes when you are back.
If you’ve traveled and stayed in places that may have fleas, you have better to change out of your clothes and have a good shower to remove altogether any fleas that may be hiding on people and prevent them from taking the opportunity to run into your home.
How to prevent the Fleas
Fleas are difficult to eradicate in a short period, so preventive measures are especially necessary.
People who have cats and dogs should trim their pets’ hair properly, bathe them weekly with flea-removing detergent, and refrain from using carpets at home.
It is also important to ventilate the house and regularly expose beds and bedding to the sun.
Keep your indoor and outdoor environments clean and tidy, and don’t accumulate debris inside or outside the house or in the underground garage. Pay attention to flea prevention and rodent prevention while avoiding the proximity of stray cats and dogs.
When cleaning, wash the cracks and crevices in the walls, bed linen, and carpets thoroughly and preferably use a vacuum cleaner.
Are they dangerous to humans?
Fleas endanger the health of animals and have new challenges to the quality of the living environment and health of people. The adult fleas have blood-sucking habits, often causing metamorphosis of tissues after human bites, resulting in pimples. In severe cases, the reaction can be intensely itchy and can also cause iron-deficiency anemia. Fleas are essential vectors and can transmit many critical infectious diseases, including tapeworm, plague, nephrotic syndrome hemorrhagic fever, endemic Typhus, and Balton’s disease, etc. So it is vital to get rid of Flea Beetles in your house once you find them.
