Bed fleas: detailed photos and tips for getting rid

Bed fleas are a typical, if I may say so, product of traditional folk thought. Jumping insects, biting people and behind their main source of food, climbing to where people rest, were on the light hand of the victims themselves and called "bedding".

At the same time, the official science of such a kind as “bed flea” does not even know. Such a collective epithet in the people is called several types of fleas, most often found in human housing: cat flea, canine, human, rat.

Occasionally on white sheets you can find representatives of other types of fleas, which is especially important for rural areas or hotels in exotic countries. But for the ordinary victim of small bloodsuckers it does not matter: all the "bed" fleas look the same if the eye is not armed with a microscope.And the habits and lifestyle of all of them are quite similar ...

 

Bedding fleas: a look under the microscope

Fleas in bed always meet unexpectedly, and turn out to be an unpleasant surprise for the one who suddenly discovered them. And regardless of what country, with what type of parasites and at what time of year the meeting took place, outwardly fleas themselves look surprisingly the same. In most cases, these are very small insects that have a dark, shiny brown body about 2-3 mm long, wingless, but very well jumping.

The photo below shows fleas that can be found directly in your bed:

In real conditions, it is almost impossible to consider a flea, even in the palm of your hand: an insect is always trying to hide from the place where it is visible. At the same time, due to the powerful hind legs, the flea makes such rapid jumps that the human eye cannot even notice the movement itself. Outwardly, it seems that the insect simply disappeared from the place where it was just.

The photo shows that the flea's hind legs are most developed and look as if they are the legs of a kangaroo:

A distinctive feature of fleas is a very durable chitinous body cover, designed to protect the parasite when it is caught by the victim. Moreover, the little body is flattened out quite strongly from the sides, and it is almost impossible to crush a flea, for example, with your fingers. It will die only when it is crushed by the nails or between the teeth of the animal.

It is interesting

Fleas are well aware of their invulnerability, and therefore they have not developed many reflexes and instincts characteristic of other parasites who are used to constantly hiding, camouflaging or fleeing (cockroaches, bed bugs). For example, fleas do not even produce an anesthetic enzyme that would make their bites less painful. Because of this flea bites are perhaps the most sensitive compared to the bites of other parasites, which, however, does not prevent the fleas from surviving quite successfully: even if their victim grabs an insect or simply scratches the bitten place, the flea will not suffer from it.

On the photo - flea bed with a strong increase:

And the following photo shows what a flea looks like at the moment of a bite:

All fleas found on the bed are occasional and temporary guests here. Their normal habitats are dark corners, garbage heaps, spaces behind baseboards, thick carpets, nests and bedding of domestic animals and birds. Here they lay eggs, rest after feeding, just hide.

Fleas in the bed or in the couch can be detected only if a large amount of debris has accumulated in the internal cavities, or various fabrics are stored for a long time without airing and washing. On the bed, the parasites move only when they are hungry for their victims.

 

Fleas and other parasitic insects: how not to confuse them with each other?

Sometimes for bedding fleas take completely different insects - parasites, or simply those that may be on the sheets or under the pillow by accident.

At the same time, it is quite easy to distinguish fleas from all blood-sucking insects:

• From all of their competitors for human blood, fleas are distinguished by jumping ability. If the tiny parasite has disappeared unnoticed from a finger or palm, on which it was planted after being caught, this is definitely a flea.
• Fleas differ from bed bugs by the absence of strict night activity: they can bite at any time of the day.In addition, only the smallest larvae of bedbugs can be confused with fleas - adult bugs are much larger and look flattened in a horizontal, rather than in a vertical plane. But bedbug larvae are always light, unlike dark brown fleas.
• Sometimes on the bed you can find underwear or head lice. They are about the same size as the fleas, but look slightly different (see photo) and have a bright body. In addition, if fleas bite mainly on the legs and never penetrate the hair, then the lice bite on the scalp or on the skin in the groin.

Flea photo:

But a photo of linen lice on the bed:

It is difficult to confuse ticks with fleas - the octopus encephalitis carrier has a very distinctive appearance. Besides, the tick on the bed is almost nonsense. They are found only in nature, and having unhooked from the victim in the house, they try to hide as soon as possible in a secluded dark place.

Photo tick:

 

What are the dangerous bed fleas?

Multiple flea bites (including while a person is in bed) in many cases cause a characteristic skin reaction called pulikozom.

The symptoms of flea bites are quite specific, and only by them can the parasites themselves be calculated:

• Painful and intensely itchy little red petechiae with a dark dot in the middle of each. Characterized by the presence of chains of three or four of these redness - each flea with a calm feeding on a sleeping person leaves several bites, located close to each other.
• Allergic reaction in the form of a rash in the area of ​​multiple bites. This is especially true for children.
• In rare cases - a generalized allergic response of the body, individual for each person, but usually manifested in fever, headache, lymph nodes.

The photo below shows typical signs. flea bites:

In rare cases, severe nausea may cause disorders of the nervous system.

In addition, “bed” fleas and fleas generally carry many human diseases, including fatal ones. Epidemiologists have determined that fleas are carriers of more than 200 different human diseases.among which are anthrax, plague, brucellosis, tularemia, hepatitis, trypanosomiasis, encephalitis.In addition, fleas are one of the most active carriers of helminth eggs.

 

Signs of fleas in the room

In addition to the simple detection of fleas on the bed, according to various criteria, it is possible to determine that the parasites are present in the house as a whole. For example:

• Regularly appearing bites on the legs. Many do not pay attention to them, especially in the summer, sinning mosquitoes and other insects on the street, while the fleas themselves safely bite the inhabitants of the apartment in their own beds.
• Restless behavior of pets. Their fleas bite much more often than humans.
• Detection of flea larvae in the corners of the room or in the garbage. These larvae are similar to those of flies, but less mobile and have a translucent body.

Below in the photo you can see what flea larvae look like:

Also a sign of the presence of fleas are their excrement, especially clearly visible on the light bed - tiny black dots easily catch the eye, and even in a small amount spoil the appearance of the fabric. By the way, sometimes such points can be confused with excrement of bed bugs.

If at least a few fleas are found in the bed or in domestic animals, it is necessary to start getting rid of parasites as soon as possible.not giving them a chance to multiply and spread to neighboring apartments.

 

How to deal with fleas

Before you bring the "bedding" fleas in the apartment, you should definitely pickle them in pets. It is with them that the parasites almost always penetrate into the room, and if several insects remain on the animal's hair, even in a fully treated apartment they will quickly regain their numbers within a few months.

Animals should be treated with fleas by one of the following means:

1. You can, for example, use flea drops on the withers - Stronghold, Frontline, Hartz drops have proven themselves well.
2. Special insecticoacaricidal sprays like Frontline, Hartz, Leopard, Blochnet.
3. Flea shampoos such as Mr.Bruno, Beaphar, and Celandine can also be used, especially used for breeding parasites in cats and dogs of decorative breeds.

After this treatment, an anti-flea collar should be put on the pet to exclude the possibility of its re-infection with fleas in the period before the parasites are removed from the apartment.

Actually, fleas are removed from the premises by special insecticidal preparations designed to combat domestic insects.Especially well suited for this:

• Insecticide concentrates that need to be diluted with water and sprayed with household spray guns. Among these drugs, the best known are Get, Zifox, Delta Zone, Cucaracha, Medilis Ziper, Tetrix. These tools are quite toxic, when treating an apartment with them, all people and animals should be removed from it, and a few hours after use, wet cleaning and airing the room should be done. Such solutions can be used to treat a flea sofa, a bed body, and especially carefully - bedding and pet bed, in which larvae often develop.

On a note

Means such as Get and Delta Zone do not have a strong odor, and when expressed sensitivity to fragrances can use them. They do not require mandatory cleaning in the room and quite economical to use.

• Special Aerosols such as Combat, Raptor or Reid. By them you can bring fleas from a sofa or chair, simply by treating a specific object with the drug itself and letting it “infuse” indoors. Also, these aerosols are well suited to get rid of fleas in the bed, because they have a pleasant smell and will not make you sleep in bed for a few days with a tinge of a powerful insecticide.
• If fleas are found in an apartment in the winter, and there is a real frost outside the windows, you can air the room well, waiting for the temperature to drop to almost zero. Most of the fleas will die in this case, and if after this a general cleaning is done indoors, you can get rid of the larvae who usually survive during the freezing of the room.

On a note

If fleas in bed were found in a hotel or hotel while traveling, you can try to get rid of them just by shaking the bed outside or in the bathroom. Perhaps this is just accidentally “caught” parasites, and they simply enough to remove from the room so that they do not spoil the dream.

In the future, in order to prevent fleas from getting into the room, you should always put special collars on pets (pets are the main parasitists in the house), and under their beds, beds and sofas, put bundles of dry wormwood or tansy. In this case, even the parasites accidentally entering the house will try to leave it, and with high probability they will not settle and reproduce here.

 

Interesting video: an example of the invasion of fleas from the basement of the house to the apartment buildings

 

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