Fleas are a pest to us and our pets. They are the most common cause of skin disorder s for pets in Australia. A single flea bite to a hypersensitive animal or person can cause intense itching and irritation.

Fleas progress through a life cycle from egg, larva, cocoon and finally into an adult flea. In the cocoon stage, a flea may lie dormant for over a year.

Adults are very small, laterally flattened and they have a body covered with backwardly projecting spines. They are wingless and they have no compound eyes but lateral ocelli sometimes are present.

Adults are an active pest, they are mostly found crawling among hair or fur and are able to jump a long distance to another feed. More importantly some fleas are carriers of serious diseases such as murine typus and a number of tapeworm's type of infections.