Flea Facts

• Fleas are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking the blood of their hosts.
• Fleas undergo a complete metamorphosis like a butterfly or moth. The life cycle consists of egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. An average life cycle take 3-4 weeks to complete.
• Once female cat fleas begin laying eggs, studies have shown they average 27 eggs/day through the first 50 days of production, peaking at 50 eggs/day.
• Egg production can continue over 100 days enabling a single female to lay over 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.
• The flea is one of the best jumpers of all known animals. Fleas can jump vertically up to 200 times their own body length.
• Using dehumidifiers and vacuuming may reduce the  number of fleas in a home but are not effective means of flea control.
• Fleas can cause a variety of medical problems for pets, including flea allergy dermatitis, anemia, and tapeworms.

Tick Facts

• Ticks are not insects. They are actually arachnids and closely related to mites, spiders and scorpions.
• Ticks can detect heat and carbon dioxide emissions from potential hosts and surroundings.
• In order to feed ticks actually bite – they do not burrow under the skin.
• Only adult female ticks engorge when they feed off the blood of their host.
• Ticks may transmit a variety of diseases including Lyme disease.
• The entire life cycle of a tick may be completed in as few as 3 months or as long as 1–3 years.
• Ticks can survive cold winters by burying themselves deep in the soil or in burrows of wild animals.
• Generally, ticks will drop off the animal when full, but it can take several days for this to happen.

Mosquito Facts

• Mosquitoes live and breed in any standing water. Once they have hatched, they usually stay within 300 feet. This means most mosquitoes you see in your yard were born in your neighborhood.
• The mosquito can complete its life cycle from egg to adult within as little as 4 days, though most mosquitoes complete it within 2 weeks.
• After only 2 days as an adult, a female mosquito is able to bite its first victim.
• Female mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at one time and can produce up to 3,000 eggs throughout her life.
• Mosquitoes do not feed on blood, but collect it in order to use its protein in developing eggs.
• Mosquito larvae cannot survive away from water. Water that has been stagnant for 3 days is a prime habitat for mosquitoes.