Fleas are active jumping parasitic creatures that feed on the blood of animals and humans. If pests are infested in an apartment or house, their presence will not go unnoticed. Parasites are aggressive towards warm-blooded inhabitants. Flea bites are accompanied by severe pain and itching. There are a huge number of products aimed at destroying and repelling insects in houses and apartments. Flea traps occupy a special place among them.
Operating principle of catching devices
The mechanism of action of all traps and baits is to lure the insect into the device and then eliminate it. And if an omnivorous curious cockroach can be lured by smell or food, then with blood-sucking insects the situation is different. They are attracted only to blood and do not react to food waste.
The movement pattern of fleas is also important. Parasites cover distances by jumping, so catching them with cardboard traps for crawling insects is absolutely useless.
Flea jump
Important!
Due to the behavior and nutrition of the insect, flea traps are not produced by any company that produces parasite control products. However, there are situations when it is not possible to visit a household chemicals store, but you need to somehow repel insect attacks. In such cases, a homemade flea trap will help.
Among the disadvantages of structures for catching insects, it is worth noting that it will not be possible to destroy the entire population of parasites. You can only slightly reduce the number of individuals, but nothing more.
A do-it-yourself flea trap is made from improvised materials and has some advantages:
- safety;
- absence of toxic components;
- ease of manufacture and use;
- low cost.
Flea traps - an alternative to chemical disinfestation
A flea trap is an effective way to reduce the population of bloodsuckers in your home. If insects appear indoors, you need to urgently take measures to get rid of them. Fleas are carriers of diseases that are potentially dangerous to pets.
Why does the thought of creating a homemade trap for ectoparasites even come to mind? Isn’t it more advisable to use drugs based on pesticides that will get rid of the problem? People choose simple devices for the following reasons:
- Insecticides are expensive, but the results of their use are not always impressive.
- The risk of negative effects of chemical poison on humans and domestic animals is great.
An anti-flea trap is a harmless way to combat ectoparasites, which requires minimal investment or no financial costs at all. In addition, you don’t need special skills to make it yourself. Even a child can make a trap with his own hands.
Romantic traps
An ordinary wax candle can attract parasites. Jumping on it, the flea will stick to the wax. Candles should be placed in potential places where bloodsuckers accumulate. Considering that the habitat of domestic fleas is concentrated on the floor and at a distance of 50 cm from it, a flea trap in an apartment with a candle is located on floor coverings or low pieces of furniture.
The more candles you place, the more fleas you can catch. Looking at such a composition of wax candles, you can’t help but wonder if the original reason for placing candles on the floor for alcove dates was simply to catch fleas, and not to create a romantic atmosphere.
On a note!
The design with a candle can be somewhat complicated. To do this, you will need a wide container into which you need to pour soapy water and install one or more special floating candles. This method is safer than the first option of using candles, as it completely eliminates fire.
Flea traps
What attracts fleas?
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Fleas are more than just annoying insects. They pose a real threat to both your health and the health of your pets. You can fight them as much as you like by pouring heaps of chemicals on the animals. But the effect seems to be zero: just as the dog was itching, it still itches. Where do fleas come from? How do they live, what attracts them? Depending on their life stage, fleas need food, warmth, darkness, movement and exhaled air to survive.
Fleas are far from harmless creatures. They cause not only discomfort to our little brothers. From their constant bites, animals develop severe skin irritation - as a rule, they suffer from an allergy to saliva. Flea dermatitis, one of the most common allergic diseases, develops.
Fleas are also carriers of bubonic plague and typhus. Fleas often cause people and their pets to become infected with tapeworms and ticks. In turn, mites cause scab, scabies, itchy skin and dermatitis. Due to decreased levels of red blood cells in the blood, your pets may develop anemia.
Warm. Fleas are heat-loving creatures, they need a temperature of at least 18.5 ̊ C. That’s why they get as deep as possible into the fur of pets, closer to the skin. So one should not naively hope for the arrival of winter and winter frosts. Among other things, fleas are concerned about their survival. Insects that settled on your dog in the summer will begin to look for winter quarters with the onset of cold weather - that is, carpets, floorboards, etc.
Life cycle. The female flea lays up to 50 eggs per day (!) in the fur of host animals. The eggs, however, do not stay there for long; they fall onto carpets, furniture, cracks in the floor, in a word, into various dark corners. The darker the better. A little time passes, and larvae emerge from the eggs. They feed mainly on undigested feces of adult fleas. The larvae then acquire a silk-like cocoon and pupate. The development of the pupa takes only 10 days. That's all - the result is an adult flea, which immediately begins an active search for the owner. An adult flea lives on average from a couple of months to a year.
Carbon dioxide and movement. Yesterday's sleeping pupae come to life, barely sensing body heat, movement and the exhaled air of a potential owner (it is filled with carbon dioxide). Attracted by yellow-green light or contrasting shadows on a light background, freshly grown adult fleas jump up to the level of the future owner's leg, almost immediately starting to eat. If an adult flea does not eat immediately, it will die.
Control fleas on your pets. We hope that reading our material awakened some emotions in our readers. As we see, it is impossible to put up with the presence of fleas on your furry friends. Thank God, scientific and technological progress does not stand still; effective drugs have appeared on sale that allow you to completely get rid of these insects. Still, we would not recommend prescribing treatment on your own. It is better to consult with your veterinarian, who will offer the latest and most effective medications. What can you do? Carefully wash and rewash all things your pet uses in hot soapy water (including mattresses, toys, etc.). Wet clean your house using hygiene products as often as possible (be sure to look into every crevice). Vacuum your house or apartment two to three times a week (at least). Treat furniture. If you are absolutely sure that there are fleas in the house, dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag after cleaning.
In addition to chemicals, folk remedies have also worked well: herbal mixtures, garlic, brewer's yeast, pine shavings, baking soda, table salt, citrus peels.
Original : What Attracts Fleas? Posted by Tammy Quinn Mckillip. Source : cuteness.com Photo : pixabay.com
Designs with floor lamps
Traps with floor light sources are best used in the evening or at night. To make a flea catching device, you will need a floor lamp, a wide, deep plate, water and any detergent. Liquid is poured into the plate, approximately one-fourth of the container’s volume, and detergent, as much as you like.
Near the habitats of parasites, a floor lamp and a plate with the prepared solution are installed so that the light is directed at the container with water. Attracted by the heat of the electric lamp, fleas will jump onto the source and fall en masse into the plate. The detergent will prevent them from escaping the trap.
Traps for controlling fleas from water
Cups, cups, and plates are used as containers. Fill halfway with water. Add any detergent for effectiveness. Some even use bleach. Place a flea trap on windowsills on sunny days. Despite the fact that parasites are nocturnal, they also make themselves felt during the day. Especially if the premises are heavily infested. In any case, such flea traps will be useful. Moreover, they are prepared quickly and easily. The insect is capable of jumping to a height of up to 1.5 meters. Therefore, they can easily climb onto the windowsill. Water in a transparent trap container will attract insects by overflowing.
Catching parasites using TV
It has been noticed that insects begin to become active near a switched-on TV, as it emits heat and light. This can be used to reduce the number of fleas. Near the TV that is on, the choice of TV program does not matter, containers with a solution of water and detergent are installed. To catch more insects, you should install a wide baking tray.
The TV is left on all night with the sound turned off, and in the morning the flea harvest can be collected. It is recommended to arrange television viewing for parasites for several days. How the TV will react to a constant source of moisture nearby, history is silent.
Candle, night, romance, fleas...
This is probably the simplest of the devices described in the article. You will need an ordinary candle , preferably a wax one, and a saucer. The candle is lit, placed in a container, the container is placed on a flat surface no higher than a meter from the floor. Insects will definitely be attracted to:
- light;
- warm;
- the smell of melted wax.
crazy from this combination . They throw themselves onto the candle and are tightly “sealed” in the molten wax . Moreover, additional destruction of fleas may not be required - if you let the candle completely , they will simply burn to ashes, not even a trace of the insects will remain.
Important. There are people who try to attract fleas using scented candles. This is of no use - their smell is too strong for fleas, and they do not emit light.
Water traps
Flea Traps
Making water traps is incredibly easy. It is necessary to prepare a solution of ordinary water with detergent or bleach and pour it into any containers, be it plates, jars, mugs, glasses. Place dishes with water throughout the apartment in areas where fleas accumulate.
Those who want to catch a live specimen will need a container of water in which to dip their hands. The hunt begins at the peak of flea activity. Having noticed a large accumulation of insects, you should wet your hands generously and literally expose them to the bloodsuckers. They will begin to stick to wet limbs, and their further fate depends only on the catcher.
Flea Traps: An Easy Method for Identifying and Killing Parasites
You can try to “pull” a few fleas onto an improvised trap. To do this, place several small pieces of light-colored fleecy cloth soaked in a sweet, sticky solution near the carpet, sofa, or pet bedding. If the apartment is truly infested with parasites, then in a couple of days several fleas will appear on the fabric. Another effective remedy is regular honey. You need to leave a small plate of honey on the window behind the curtains for at least a day. To speed up the process, you can use a fan: a powerful air flow will blow the parasites out of the folds of the fabric.
You can also catch fleas in soapy water. This type of trap is quite effective, but at the same time requires a lot of energy. You need to pour some soapy water into a bowl and place a lamp next to it. Unfortunately, eggs cannot be destroyed this way. And complete destruction of fleas using this method is not feasible. But it will be possible to confirm the presence of parasites relatively safely and quickly.
Sticky traps
The first method is to place adhesive tapes, double-sided tape on baseboards, floors, furniture, and interiors. A flea that gets on the sticky substance will not be able to peel off from it. The disadvantage of this method is that tapes with attached pests cannot be called aesthetic, so they require constant updating.
Honey is sometimes used as an alternative to sticky tape. It is poured in a thin layer into flat vessels with iron lids. Honey traps are placed near flea habitats and are periodically checked to remove adherent fleas.
In order to completely destroy parasites, it is recommended to contact a specialized company for help and carry out disinsection of the premises. You can treat the apartment yourself using modern effective means:
- Raptor;
- Raid;
- Dichlorvos;
- Clean house;
- Butox 50.
How to distinguish a human flea from an animal one
The appearance of human fleas is similar to that of other types of wingless insects. The main difference between Pulex Irritans is the presence of a flattened body on the sides. Thanks to this shape, human parasites easily move around the body and do not get tangled in the hair.
But experts are convinced that fleas that parasitize humans are almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye. Therefore, only an entomologist can distinguish insects using a microscope or a photo where the parasite is increased in size.
Externally, human fleas are small brown grains that move. People often confuse fly larvae with the larvae of wingless insects, since they are almost identical in appearance.
Special signs of human fleas:
- the body is black-brown in color.
- Flattened body.
- Lack of wings.
- The body and paws are covered with hairs and hooks.