Fleas are a tiny, agile, usually dark in color insect.
They have parts in their mouth that are made to feed on their host's blood.
The flea has long legs and their back legs are made to jump.
Fleas have the ability to jump vertically eighteen centimeters, and thirty-three centimeters horizontally.
That is about two hundred times the length of its own body, which gives the flea the recognition of being one of the best jumping animals related to its body size.
The adult fleas will lay very small oval eggs.
Their tiny larva does not have eyes or mouthparts to feed yet.
The larva will eat different organic materials especially the older fleas' feces.
Adult fleas consume only fresh blood.
Fleas go through four stages to become an adult, they start out as an egg, then change to larvae, the next stage is turning into a pupa, and then finally an adult flea that is also known as an imago.
Before an adult flea can reproduce it must have consumed blood.
An egg may become an adult flea in about 2 weeks to eight months.
The time span is so large because it depends on species of the flea, humidity and temperature.
After a female flea eats blood she will usually lay around forty five to fifty eggs a day and close to six hundred in her lifetime.
The host can be almost any animal; such as a dog, cat, chicken and many more including humans too.
Fleas do not only cause itching, but they can be responsible for severe medical problems, such as; tape worms, anemia and serious skin irritations plus many more.
On the very serious side, fleas have been known to transmit endemic typhus that is passed from animals to humans.
Tapeworms and the Bubonic plague are two other diseases that have been transmitted to humans from fleas.
The bite itself usually does not hurt at all; salivary secretions from the flea cause the irritation that follows.
The itch and pain of a bite will depend on a person's sensitivity to the flea.
Some people have severe reactions and others may not have any reaction at all.
Fleas are very difficult to get rid of.
When treating fleas it is necessary to completely eliminate them from your home and pets.