Fleas have an interesting life cycle

Well, fleas have a really interesting life cycle which can be divided into four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. It all starts when an adult female lays eggs when the bloodsucking process occurs – they need blood to reproduce. A female flea can lay between thirty and forty eggs a day.

These eggs will fall off of your pets when they move and are subsequently spread around your house (or where your pet lives). These eggs will develop under the right conditions and this is the process in which they become larvae. 

Larvae eat pre-digested blood from the adult flea and other organic dirt from the environment. If conditions are favorable, they will transform in pupae. In this stage of life, their cocoon protects and helps them to become adults. 

“The more warm and the more moist it is, the faster the life cycle will go,” says Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, a staff doctor at NYC’s Animal Medical Center, who specializes in small animal internal medicine and oncology. “If it’s cooler and dryer, the process slows down until the temperature goes up.”