Biology of Fleas

Series Summary

Insects are small invertebrate animals that can be real pests. Including flies, spiders, bees and wasps, bugs tend to annoy humans with their bites, stings and buzzing. However, each insect plays an important role in nature, whether it be to pollinate flowers, produce honey or prey on other pests. All in all, some insects can be quite beneficial to nature's cycle. In this free video series on insects, a high school biology teacher discusses different types of insects and bugs, including spiders, fleas, flies, bees and wasps. Find out the biology of a flea, and get tips for preventing a flea infestation. Learn about different species of spiders and their habits, and find out how a bee can fly. Get detailed information about different buggy habits and lifestyles.

Video Transcript

"Your dog's lying on the living room carpet and starts to scratch. Uh oh you think. I hope the dog doesn't have fleas. I'm Janice Creneti and this is biology of fleas. Why are fleas such a problem? Why are they so difficult to control? Well let's talk a little bit about what a flea is and maybe I can help you shed some light on the subject. Fleas are invertebrate animals that means they don't have a backbone. A lot of animals that don't have backbones instead have very thick coverings. The flea's one of them. That's why it can be difficult to kill with chemicals. Fleas are, belong to a group of invertebrates called arthropods. Arthropods have jointed legs which you can see here on the picture. Fleas have the ability to jump great distances. I don't know if you've ever seen one jump but it's really a pretty amazing thing. So exactly how does your dog wind up with fleas? Well there's a couple of different ways that can happen. If your dog goes outside or is exposed to other dogs that already have fleas, the fleas can jump from the ground onto the dog or from one dog to the next. Like I said they're really good jumpers. Fleas can lay eggs. They can lay them in your carpet, they can lay them outside in the grass, it can even lay them in pillows and bedding. That can be why it's so hard to get rid of fleas. Once the flea eggs are hatched, they're going to turn into flea larva. Then they'll go into a cocoon and then the adult fleas emerge. Again ready to jump on your dog and start drinking its blood. In fact one of the ways that you can tell the dog actually has fleas is to apply a little water and smear it. If it turns reddish-brown that's, that's blood and you know that the animal that's been biting your dog is actually a flea. So how do you get rid of them? Well there's lots of different things that you can use. Dog collars, if you have a really bad infestation you might have to result to something like a flea bomb where you actually set off a chemical. And you want to look for something in the bomb that actually is going to kill the flea eggs as well as the adults or you're never going to get rid of your fleas. I'm Janice Creneti and this is biology of fleas."