There are about 2,200 species of fleas in the world.  The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felix, is the most commonly found flea in the US and infests cats, dogs, birds, humans, and other mammals. When a flea bites a human, it causes a slightly raised, red, itching spot on the skin. The flea can jump approximately one foot high.  Due to the flea’s unique life cycle, flea treatments usually require more than on visit by an ArmaXX technician.

Flea Life Cycle

Egg
Females lay 4-8 eggs after each blood meal, laying some roughly 600 eggs during their lifetime. The eggs are deposited between hairs, or in bedding material. In effect, eggs deposited on the animal either fall and/or shaken off the host.  The egg typically rows into cracks and crevices where pets frequent. Eggs are oval, whitish, and about 1/64" long. They usually hatch in 1-12 days.

Larva
The larvae are blind and prefer dark places.  The humidity levels are a major factor in the larvae growth pattern.  Higher humidity results in faster development – roughly 1-2 weeks.  Lower humidity causes a slower development rate - taken several months before the next stage. In fact, larvae fail to develop at temperatures below 55 degrees F and at or above 95 degrees F. Their food source consists of adult flea feces, hair, skin, and other organic matter.  The larvae are usually hidden in carpet fibers, furniture cushions, and beddings.

Pupa
The pupa matures to adult within a cocoon which usually consists of carpet fibers, pet hair, and other debris. Typically, the adult flea will emerge in 1 – 2 weeks from the cocoon. Adults emerge from the cocoon by human/pet movement, increased heat, noise, and vibrations. Pupae are typically found where the animal sleeps or frequents

Adult
Female fleas lay up to twenty eggs per day. Adults usually seek a blood meal on the second day of emergence, but can live for several months without eating. Once on a host, they rarely leave - unless shaken off. Adults can live up to two months or one year without eating; however, they cannot survive without blood.

Health Concerns

• Cat fleas may transmit plague and murine typhus.
• Dog & rodent tapeworm occasionally infest humans, especially very young children.

Control

1. Treat pets with Frontline or K9 Advantix or other products recommended by animal care specialist.
2. Wash pet beddings often with hot water.
3. Vacuum areas which pet frequent, including beddings and underneath cushions.
4. Cracks and crevices near baseboards should be vacuumed as well.

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Ticks are blood feeding parasites of humans, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Although ticks are commonly thought of as insects, they are actually arachnids like scorpions, spiders and mites. They are often found in grassy, brushy areas where they wait for a host to pass by. Their bite is not painful and  sometimes goes unnoticed.

Ticks frequently wait for a host on vegetation along trails and paths traveled by people or animals. These areas include woodlands, weedy or brushy areas, lawns, and dog kennels.

Tick Life Cycle
All of the common ticks of Tennessee have four life stages — egg, larva, nymph and adult.  Each of the stages, other than the egg, requires a separate animal host to complete its development, which, all together, may be two or three years long

1. An adult female tick drops off her final host, lays her eggs and dies.
2. Larvae – stay on grasses or other leaves and stems not far from ground level. Lucky individuals complete that stage after attaching to a host, feeding, and dropping off. The larval stage can cause intense itching on humans, but does not transmit disease.
3. Larvae molt and emerge as the nymph stage, about 1.5 mm long and again climb a grass stem to await a host. Nymphs usually overwinter and follow the same feeding process the next year. The nymph stage also causes intense itching in humans.
4. Adults are amazingly stealthy on humans in spite of their size, and may not be noticed until they have been attached for a considerable time.  The adult tick overwinter as well.

Kinds of Ticks
Three kinds of ticks are frequently encountered around homes or in recreation areas in Tennessee. These are the American dog tick, lone star tick and the brown dog tick

Dog Tick
The American dog tick is a dark brown tick that can be identified by the randomly arranged silver streaks on the back of both the male and female. The immature stages feed  primarily on rodents, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, etc., but never on humans. Adults are found on larger and will attach to humans, dogs, cattle and deer.

Lone Star Tick
The lone star tick is a reddish brown tick that is slightly smaller than the American dog tick. The adult female has a conspicuous white spot on the middle of her back that gives this species its common name. Unlike the American dog tick, all stages of this species will attack people readily. Adults and nymphs are present and searching for hosts as soon as the weather becomes warm in the spring. They decrease in numbers as the summer progresses and are less frequently encountered after early September. The larvae, known as seed ticks, are encountered in masses on vegetation and may result in hundreds of individual bites on one person. Wounds left by attachment of all stages result in discolored itchy spots that may take two weeks to heal. Larval masses are encountered from late July until a killing frost in the fall, but most frequently in August and September

Brown Dog Tick
The brown dog tick is uniformly dark reddish-brown, similar in appearance to the American dog tick, but smaller and without any light-colored markings on the back. This tick is known to attack dogs and other animals, but rarely humans. It is usually found inside buildings where dogs live, such as houses, dog kennels and runs. It may sometimes be found on porches, in backyards or other sheltered places frequented by dogs. It is usually found in the spring and summer months.

Health Concerns
Colorado Tick Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease are all diseases transmitted by ticks. Lyme Disease symptoms mimic the flu but if left untreated can lead to long term health problems. Lyme Disease is ofter transmitted by the deer tick. If you have been bitten by a tick and feel ill, see your doctor immediately.

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Have you ever heard,” Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite?” For the past 50 years, this nursery rhyme was considered outdated, but now – bedbugs are back! According to the University of Tennessee, bed bug pest control service calls increased “500 percent in 2003” and ‘increased 20 percent’ the following year – and the problem is getting worse. Bed bugs are being found in expensive hotels, apartments, mansions and dormitories in nearly every state in the country.  For many pest control companies, bed bugs are creating more callbacks than all other target pests.

Why the resurgence of bedbugs?  In Asia, Africa, India, Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America , bed bugs are still a major issue.  Foreign travelers bring these bugs into the United States via luggage, clothes, furniture, and other common items.  

Description
The bed bug is a reddish-brown insect that doesn't grow much longer than 0.2 inches (0.5 centimeters). They feed on human blood at night, often leaving an itching lump as a result of a bite. Bed bugs inject an anticoagulant to keep your blood flowing as they suck, along with a numbing agent to keep you from feeling the bite. If the bite is detected, the person may notice a very “slight twinge of pain” that quickly disappears

Habitat
Bed bugs take shelter near their host - around bedrooms and sleeping areas. They prefer to breed and hide in the following areas:

• Cracks and crevices of headboards, bed frames and mattresses.
• Seams of mattresses; under plastic boxspring corner covers; inside mattress coils; and in cracks in bed frames.
• Bedside furniture and dressers, wall boards and wood paneling;
• In clutter under the bed; under door and window frames; behind pictures; under loose wallpaper;
• Under the edges of wall-to-wall carpeting, baseboards and other wood molding; in ceiling-wall junctures;
• Inside clothing stored in closets and dressers; inside lamps, clocks, phones, televisions.
• Smoke detectors can serve as a breeding ground for bedbugs.

Bed bugs may travel from an attic to a living area through lights and ceiling fans – including, light switches, wall outlet and/or pipe penetrations.

Life Cycle
Typically a female will deposit up to five eggs per day and lay roughly 200 to 500 eggs during her life. About a week later, a nymph will emerge from the egg. After taking at least one blood meal, the nymph molts, and will go through five stages called instars before becoming an adult. To grow from an egg to an adult bed bug, it will take roughly one month.  Adults can live several months to more than a year.

Control
Bed bug control is a challenge even for professional pest control companies.  Disassembling the infected areas is necessary, such as - removing mattresses, boxsprings, pictures, furniture, and bedding material.  Treating the items with an approved pest control material is necessary.  Since bed bugs hide in wall voids, drilling the walls and injecting with a pesticide dust is often recommended.  Vacuuming the beds and furniture will help remove eggs.  According to the University of Tennessee, steaming cleaning the seams, “crevices and folds of mattresses, box springs, sofas, love seats, chairs and other furniture should kill all eggs, nymphs and adult bed bugs contacted.”  Washing the bedding and clothes in”hot water – at 120 degrees F minimum” should kill the bed bugs.

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