FACTS ABOUT
THE COMMON FLEA
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts about a worldwide pest.
Quick Facts
- Type: Insect
- Diet: Blood
- Lifespan: 2 to 4 months
- Size: 1.5 – 3.3 mm long
- Weight: 0.45 mg
- Scientific name: Ctenocephalides
- Habitat: On the skin of warm-blooded animals.
- Fleas can jump around 30 thousand times in a row!
- They can also jump very high. If they were human-sized then they would be able to jump over the Eiffel Tower with an acceleration force of 140G… That’s an acceleration rate 50 times greater than a rocket taking off into space!
- Fleas can lift objects 150 times heavier than their own body weight.
- Once adult fleas emerge from their puparia, they have approximately 7 days to find a blood meal or they will die.
- Females can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood on a daily basis.
- Female fleas can lay about 2,000 eggs over the course of their lives, but are incapable of laying eggs until after their first meal.
- Once they have had their first blood meal, female fleas will lay their eggs within 35 to 48 hours.
- Flea eggs are usually laid directly on a host, often falling off and spreading the infestation to the surrounding environment.
- Over 2500 species of fleas have been identified by entomologists but many more are thought to exist. Entomologists are scientists who study insects.
Clancy's comment: Mm ... Amazing little guys, eh?
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