Anonymous asked 10 years ago
Fleas in your house and not in a cat or dog, how do they reproduce? can fleas reproduce without a mate? or do they reproduce by themselves?
I had a cat, they cat died of old age, but now I have a lot of fleas, they disappear during winter, but now that the warm weather is appearing, all of the sudden i have fleas again?
Adam Retzer Staff answered 10 years ago
Hello,
Fleas can’t reproduce without a mate. They’re not asexual (parthenogenetic), like some other insects.
Fleas also can’t reproduce without host blood. They’re anautogenous. So, if they’re laying eggs and reproducing, it means there are some living on a dog or cat. They can’t reproduce on human blood.
How long ago did your cat pass away? If it’s been less than 5 months, you’re probably dealing with pre-emerged adults. They’re now emerging with the warmer weather.
Adult fleas only make up 1-5% of an infestation. Most are immature fleas living in carpets. Once these immature stages reach adulthood, they can stay within their cocoons for up to 5 months. The pre-emerged adults wait for cues from a nearby host, or favorable environmental conditions, before they emerge.
There is good news. The fleas you’re now seeing won’t live long if you don’t have a cat or dog. As mentioned, they can’t survive and reproduce on human blood. The fleas should be completely extinct once your cat has been absent for 5 months.
You can speed up the process of adults emerging from their cocoons by vacuuming often.
Hope this helps!
Adam
