What Do Fleas Look Like? – Fleas’ Life Cycle

April 18th, 2009 Posted in Bed Bugs & Fleas




What does a flea look like? Usually has some stubbly facial hair, tattoos, and a buzz cut, while playing funky bass guitar riffs – oh wait, that’s Flea – Michael Peter Balzary – from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The flea you’re probably curious about is the one that silently leaves people and pets itchy bites. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.

This article will discuss

  • What do fleas look like?

  • Life cycle of fleas

By properly identifying them and understanding their life cycle, you can begin controlling fleas.




What do fleas look like?

The flea species most commonly found in homes, the cat flea or Ctenocephalides felis, occurs on both cats and dogs and also bites people. This section will explain how to identify flea bites, adult fleas, and flea larvae, pupae and eggs.

Flea bites
Bites usually occur along the ankles and lower portions of legs from fleas in carpet. You’ll notice a flea bite before the flea. Flea bites vary in appearance from tiny red dots to raised red bumps similar to mosquito or spider bites. They are usually accompanied by an itchy halo of redness that may last for several hours. Children are usually more sensitive to flea bites than adults.

A board-certified dermatologist should be able to help you identify a bite on human skin.

Adults
Fleas are only about 1/16″-1/8″ long and are difficult, though not impossible, to be seen by the naked eye.

Fleas are wingless. To travel from host to host, they leap incredible distances by using their long hind legs. (Michael Peter Balzary got his nickname based on his jumpy nature.) Fleas can leap as far as 7 inches vertically and 13 inches horizontally – quite a distance for such a small insect. “An equivalent hop for a human would be 250 feet vertically and 450 feet horizontally!”

Their backward pointing spines on their body help them stick to hair on a host and make them hard to remove by scratching or shaking. The row of spines on their head is called a genal comb.

Their laterally flattened body (like a bluegill) enables them to meander through fur, hair or feathers with ease.

Other descriptive features include:

  • 3 pairs of legs

  • Dark, reddish-brown in color

  • Short antennae with 3 segments

  • Hard-bodied (hard to crush)

Eggs

  • Smooth
  • Oval-shaped
  • White in color


Larvae

  • About 1/4″ long
  • Body is white- or straw-colored when freshly molted; reddish-brown when feeding
  • Head is brown
  • Legless, maggot-like
  • Roll up into a ball when disturbed
  • Long hairs on each of the 13 body segments


Pupae

  • Silky cocoon
  • Sticky and covered with debris particles
  • Nearly impossible to kill unless smashed

Fleas’ life cycle

A flea life cycle (from egg to larva to pupa to adult) takes from 2 weeks to 8 months. The length varies depending on temperature, humidity food and species with the optimum temperature being 70°F to 85°F and the optimum humidity is 70%.

95% of a flea infestation population is in the immature stages, while only 5% of the population are adults. The breakdown of the immature population consists of 50% eggs, 35% larvae, and 10% pupae.

The process:

Stage 1 – Egg:

  1. The female, after a blood meal, lays about 15-20 eggs per day – that’s up to 600 in a lifetime – usually on the host.
  2. Eggs do not stick to the host, so they drop out anywhere – on carpets, rugs, upholstered funiture, etc.
  3. The eggs hatch in 2 days to 2 weeks into larvae – in floor cracks, crevices, along baseboards, in beds, etc.


Stage 2 – Larva:

  1. Takes a week to several months to develop.
  2. Are blind and avoid light.
  3. Larvae sustain themselves by eating digested blood from adult flea feces, dead skin, hair, feathers, and organic debris.


Stage 3 – Pupa:

  1. Takes about 5-14 days to develop into adult fleas.
  2. Silken cocoon is woven by larva.
  3. Pet hair, carpet fibers, dust, and other debris sticks to cocoon.
  4. Adults emerge once movement from a potential host is noticed.


As long as they’re cocooned, fully-developed adult fleas can survive without food for several months. Otherwise, newly emerged adult fleas can only live about 1 week without a blood feast.

Stage 4 – Adult:

Adult fleas may live from 2 months to 1 year without feeding, but newly emerged adult fleas only live about 1 week if a blood meal is not obtained.

Keep in mind that adults do not necessarily emerge all at once. If you treat an infestation, be prepared for a second hatching within about 10-21 days.

Need to get rid of fleas in your home? Try EcoSMART for free!







  1. 34 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!

  2. By Erica on May 29, 2009

    I had no idea there could be a second hatching after you’ve already treated your home from an investation. Thanks for the info. This article was very infomative.

  3. By Kimberly Taliercio on Aug 12, 2009

    Thanks! We don’t know where we keep getting them from but they pop up every few months and we have such a hard time getting rid of them!!

  4. By Jackie Fox on Aug 23, 2009

    Second hatching, I am shocked. Great information indeed.
    I have 2 Cats and a Dog, and Fleas every so often make a come back.

  5. By Sheila on Sep 3, 2009

    I am a first time pet owner and being “greeted” by my first flea infestation via my kitten. The second hatching is what is most frustrating! My only hope is to get this under control.

  6. By Jennifer Goodwin on Sep 5, 2009

    I just found out my cats had fleas. They are indoor only and I just moved into a new place, without even thinking about the fact that the people before me had possibly had pets that had them. I learned the hard way that cleaning the carpets is not always enough. I have no idea what to do, but I definitely know how to spot them now, and understand if I don’t do something immediately I will continue dealing with annoying bites and my poor cats having bad allergic reactions (which they are now on steroids for) I need a solution quickly to clean my place top to bottom.

  7. By Bobbi on Sep 13, 2009

    We have an 8 1/2 year old Yorkie who has never had fleas. We took him for a grooming and he began to scratch the next day. We have been fighting this menace for a month now. We have had him dipped and “bombed” the house. AND WE STILL HAVE THEM. We are at our wits end. Your article was quite enlightening about the cycle. I think I now realize we are in for a long fight.

  8. By Christina Lester on Sep 17, 2009

    I have had a very hard time getting rid of fleas in my place. It has been months! I was looking for information on the timing of the life cycle when I came across this site. I’m hoping to treat my house at appropriate intervals!

    This site has a lot of good info, thanks!

  9. By hermone on Sep 19, 2009

    I wish I can join you guy’s because i’m itithing with flees.

  10. By JMZ on Oct 6, 2009

    My family just moved into a new rental home and have been fighting fleas since we got here. So far none of the products we have tried have managed to keep them gone, even though they are listed as growth inhibitors. Hoping to find something soon to completely erradicate this infestation permanently.

  11. By Cindy on Oct 8, 2009

    Frustrated when my indoor cat of 9 years got fleas for the first time this summer! Thought we were immune to that because she was an “indoor” cat but I learned that’s not the case. Thanks for the info.

  12. By Nancy Goransson on Oct 9, 2009

    We’ve had our indoor cat for about 12 years and never have noticed a single flea until recently. My 7 year old daughter and my husband are having to deal with flea bites. For whatever reason they’re not biting me, but I do pick 30 or so off my white socks daily and roll them around between my thumb and index finger until I’m confident they’re dead. My husband said “wear different color sox” I told him the white sox are helping me research where the “hot spots” are. Anyway, we got the cat a flea color, we’ve washed her a couple of times with flea shampoo, we sprayed with flea killer, set off several foggers simultaineously, I’m laundering everything I can get my hands on, and I’ve vacuumed with crevice tool detail 3 times (I’m just about to do it again after I toss in another load of laundry.)

    Of course it’s impossible to say where exactly they came from, but I suspect from my son’s friends’ house. His friend lives in the country with several indoor/outdoor cats and dogs. I understand they’ve had a flea problem they’ve been unable to leash for years. I’m concerned, so long as my son and his friends are going over there then coming over to my house, that I’m my efforts are a waiste of time.

  13. By Josh Dunigan on Oct 11, 2009

    Thanks so much. I’ve been trying to figure out some info on the life and hatch cycles and you explained it all. Thanks again.

  14. By tonya on Oct 12, 2009

    Love your website! Thanks for the wealth of information! Our indoor cat got out this summer and in no time at all our entire house was infested. The land near us is a mixture of dirt soil and sand, with a higher than average sand content for the North. We have spent literally at a minimum of over a hundred dollars getting rid of these fleas. My cats are tricky because they cannot be bathed. It also took some time because we did not immediately learn of the importance of attacking all of the critical flea life cycle stages. We have eliminated, by estimate, about 85% of the infestation. Although we remain completely diligent!

  15. By Jodi Nicholson on Oct 12, 2009

    I was looking online to see what the flea from egg to adult looks like and came across this site. Thanks for all the info. I now know what all stages look like and can treat accordingly!!

  16. By Amanda Fuller on Oct 15, 2009

    Was also looking for what flea eggs and other stages look like. Your site has great info and I am interested to see how your product works.

  17. By candy price on Oct 25, 2009

    As a vet tech of many years, dealing with fleas is a full time ordeal. I have seen so many clients and their pets battling these tough critters in so many ways. For years, i used vet recommended monthly treatments with some satisfaction. yes, they seemed to work for my pets, but concerned about monthly chemicals on my dogs. a few years ago, i moved to a warmer climate, which translates to year round flea battle. I would love to find something that i felt comfortable using in my home without feeling like i have to keep loading the dogs up with toxins!

  18. By Debra Markowitz on Oct 29, 2009

    We have been battling fleas ever since we moved to the country three years ago. My six cats stay indoors, but the dog goes out. Flea shampoos, daily combing with flea combs, washing, washing, vacuuming, vacuuming… the battle never ends. Spot-on treatments have failed,and I hate putting these chemicals on my friends. One of my cats almost died from a flea collar. How my family would love to find a natural green product that really works!

  19. By Marla Southers on Nov 1, 2009

    I am researching what flea eggs really look like. I found lots of what looks like sesame seeds in areas where my cat sleeps. You can pick them up so they are not that small. Are these flea eggs???

  20. By T.I. on Jan 5, 2010

    Last year I allowed my cat to sleep and lie on my desk,soon after I encountered tiny transparent worms under my computer keyboard,speakers and under books,anythng lying flat on my desk. As soon as I lift the object,these worm-like things would start crawling to another object to hide under. They were so tiny I had to look very closely to see them. I now realised after reading this website that those creatures were flea larvae. It all makes sense now. They didnt move like worms..they moved like maggots. My mother told me they had to be correlated to my cat..but I wouldnt believe that. She was right because after cleaning my desk and not allowing my cat to sleep there Id see no sign of the larvae. Thereafter when she decided to sleep there again Id check under my books and pc components and guess what?Id find larvae again! I am now married and havent seen the larvae in my home..my husband and I allow her to sleep on our bed so we will be spraying our bed and furniture today. Thanks for this great website!

  21. By amber labar on Feb 23, 2010

    I have lived in my home for 6 years and it’s very old with plenty of property. I love to garden every summer, and i enjoy having cats. They are indoor/outdoor cats that catch the mice and rats. I am devastated that they suffer badly from fleas and mites. They only get slight relief 2 or 3 months out of the year from these pests to where they actually look happy and comfortable, then they are back to bad looking fur and insufferable scratching. I have tried drops, collars, and powders, it just makes them all sick and a week or so the problem seems worse. The pests are in my home and where ever the cats go outside. I am hopeless and afraid that my cats won’t live long lives if I can’t get some help that just could eliminate the indoor infestation and possibly control the outside pests too.

  22. By EcoSMART Megan on Feb 24, 2010

    Dear Amber Labar,

    Your poor animals, it sounds like they’ve had some rough times. For indoor and outdoor use, try EcoSMART’s Home Pest Control to kill fleas. But this product is not to be sprayed directly on your pets.

    One of EcoSMART’s partners, Sergeant’s Nature’s Guardian, makes natural ways to treat your pets for fleas.

    Good luck!

  23. By Aisha on May 5, 2010

    I’ve been looking up information about fleas and how to get rid of them since my brother’s girlfriend dog Gizmo has gotten infested w/ them…it’s awful for him and for me because he’s more attached to me and I’m really sensitive to flea bites they itch like crazy and then I get marks all over because I can’t keep myself from scratching them. Gizmo is suffering the most he bleeds sometimes on the towels he sleeps on (which end up infested w/ fleas and their droppings/of course I wash them but they end up infested again), constant scratching till he has self inflicted wounds, and he had one on his head that no one knew of and it looked as if the fleas were going crazy on it (maybe even laying eggs on or near it) I gave him a bath and I do it regularly to ease his suffering until he can be taken to the vet. It’s a nightmare!

  24. By jennifer bellman on Jul 8, 2010

    I have two indoor cats and thought they couldnt get fleas i took one to the vet two weeks ago and now they both have fleas i have so far gutted all the rooms and banned cats to just a laminated floored hallway! i feel so sly on them cos they are suffering all the time they have fleas! im proberly going to get the council in to get rid! this info was very helpfully as well as eye opening! thanx jen x

  25. By karen on Jul 20, 2010

    Foster kittens brought in fleas!!! It’s amazing how many are on them when I use a flea comb. Not just once, but 2-3 times a day! I’ve cleaned and vaccuumed the whole apt.- moving furniture and spraying the Eco Home Pest Control under the furniture and onto the carpet. I have done an area at a time and just closed the door. The kittens are safe and fine. And I like the smell of the oils. So I’ll see how well the spray and the Advantage works together.

  26. By Cabduce on Sep 13, 2010

    I noticed my indoor cat of 10 years acting funny several weeks ago and after checking her fur, found fleas. I then discovered my bed (where she sleeps) covered in flea dirt alon with some other spots that she rests. I have never had a problem w/ her having fleas before. I isolated her and went to the vet the next day to pick up some advantage. I discovered them at about 11 pm at night, so I stayed up all night cleaning and vacuuming the entire house. The following day, I bought some Borax and srinkled everywhere: carpets, mattresses, furniture, etc. The next day I vacuumed everything again along with spraying an IGR in every crack and corner in the house. Two weeks went by and I was still seeing fleas on my steps and upstairs hallway. I then purchased flea bombs w/ Nylar in them. That was almost a week ago. I am still seeing a few fleas here and there but they seem like they are diminishing. I have been vacuuming every or every other day for almost three weeks. I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter and am worried about the adult ones getting on her, so I wear white socks around the house everyday. When one lands on my sock, I pinch it and put it in a dish with soap water and drown it. Last night I caught 18 this way. I hope this ends because I can’t take it much longer.

  27. By Grace on Oct 25, 2010

    I am glad to know there is a product out there that uses chemical free home pest control to get rid of fleas which I am really grateful about. Recently, my home had gotten infested with fleas and I just didn’t know what to do because I totally don’t like to use any chemicals in my home unless it is eco friendly.

  28. By Linda on Nov 4, 2010

    I also have a flea infestation due to a cat and dog who live inside. Discovered several flea larvae on bedding This is really gross! Frontline is to be used on all animals at all times to keep the cycles to a minimum!! What a valuable lesson. I am also very happy to discover the products offered by EcoSmart. Hopefully they can help with all the pests that like the southern states.

  29. By Richard Friel on Jan 14, 2011

    My cat got fleas when I started letting him walk around my apartment complex a few months ago to get some exercise. Previous to that he had been exclusively and indoor cat.
    I have been using advantage multi to kill the fleas on him and it seems to be working very well. My vet was concerned, however, that the fleas may be established in my carpet, and wanted me to spray a pesticide on the carpet.
    I am very wary of using a pesticide and would prefer to use an organic product.
    Hopefully this will get rid of the ‘colony’ if there is one without endangering me or my cat with pesticides.

  30. By Irma on Apr 18, 2011

    This was very helpful. Especially the diagram on the flea life cycle. I found a white worm on my carpet – two in fact – and I wanted to know what they were. It was about a millimeter in length or so, and (if I squinted closely) I could make out hair like legs running all along it’s body. Needless to say it freaked me out at first sight because I had no idea what it was or where it came from. After a bit of research, I found this site, and think I’m going to try this product out because Advantage isn’t doing squat for my pets.

    I also had no idea about the second hatching either so that’s something I need to look out for as well. Thanks for the info!

  31. By Cheryl Williams on Apr 20, 2011

    My daughter bought EcoSmart because we had an ant problem in the kitchen (Lots of ants) she only brought this product in the house we sat it by the back door and the ants disappeared immediately for two days there were absolutely no ants, but then we decided to go ahead and spray it and still we havent seen any ants. I TOTally love this product.
    We do have a flea problem, I am hoping that it will help with it as well. We are also taking other measures as well.
    Thank you for making this product.
    Cheryl

  32. By Sylvia Wallace on May 12, 2011

    We live in the country surrounded by woods and one of our cats brought in fleas. For the past nine months we have been trying everything as now our dogs and ferrets have them too. Seeing pictures of the various stages and explaining them is invaluable to me because now I can spot them more readily on the cat and dog that are having the biggest problem. Every little bit helps as I have won some battles but can’t seem to win the war sofar. Maybe now can.

    Thanks, Sylvia

  33. By vickie shirtz on Jun 8, 2011

    I am really looking for something for my four dogs but I realize that the yard needs to be treated also.

  34. By vickie shirtz on Jun 8, 2011

    this site was helpful. I was concerned about the flea cycle possbily invading the dogs body. thank you for the info.

  35. By Wing on Jun 14, 2011

    How to Know If You Have fleas at your House. This website provides good information..I am hoping this product can help me……..thanks

34 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers! (details)