Rat fleas: description. Rat fleas in the apartment: how to get rid?

Rat fleas are insect parasites that carry very dangerous diseases: plague, fever, helminthic invasions. Occurring not so often as canine and feline fleas, nevertheless they are able to penetrate the apartment through pets and attack a person.

Description of the rat flea

Externally, rat fleas (see photo in the review) are very similar to their fellow humans. Differences can be considered with a large increase in insects with an optical device. They have a dark brown, flattened body (0.5 to 1 mm in length) with a clearly discernible head, chest and abdomen, no wings, short forelegs and large hind legs (about 30 mm), making it possible to make huge jumps. The covering of the body of the bristles and thorns are turned back, which does not create resistance when the parasite moves in the thick coat of the animal. On the head is a pair of simple eyes, antennae and a piercing-sucking oral apparatus, which consists of three parts: upper and lower jaws with denticles and long palps and a lower lip with two palps, playing the role of tongue and proboscis simultaneously. There is no upper lip in the insect. Females are often larger than males and differ from them with a curved back and a seminal receptacle located in the abdomen.

Features of Existence

The main hosts on which rat fleas are parasitized are various species of rodents. And the bloodsuckers are not permanent residents on the body of the animal: they are just temporary guests attacking the four-armed with the aim of extracting food - blood. Saturated, parasites move to the habitats of their hosts (burrows, rat nests, piles of garbage), trying not to move away from them for long distances.

Stages of development

During the life of the female rat fleas lay about 400-500 eggs of white color (5-8 pieces at a time), the length of which is about 0.5 mm, and they must be filled with blood before oviposition. Nests are equipped in various substrates (for example, dust on the floor or dry debris), but most often, in an apartment, the laying of eggs, rat fleas produce in the host litter.

In each egg, the larva develops; After 5-10 days, a mobile worm-like creature without eyes and legs appears outward, but equipped with a mouthpiece of the gnawing type.

Growing rat fleas feed on the excrement of adult animals, containing undigested blood, putrid remnants of grass and wool. In the apartment, the larvae feel comfortable in the old dirty carpets and flooring. Having passed the obligatory stage of pupation, they turn into full-fledged adult insects. At home, decorative rats and mice are excellent sources of nutrition for such parasites. In the absence of such insects without a twinge of conscience will move to the body of domestic dogs and cats and must be attached to the person.

Ways of penetration into the apartment

On the territory of the apartment, rat fleas can penetrate several ways:

• With a pet coming from a walk;
• Rising from the basement, especially if there are rats in it (so rat fleas in the apartment on the 1st floor are frequent guests);
• When in contact with a foreign animal infected with parasites.

Rat fleas: symptoms of bites

In rat fleas there is no enzyme, an anesthetic piercing the skin, so their bites cause huge discomfort and are accompanied by severe pain. Suck the blood of an insect-parasite can for several hours in a row. Densely satiated, it returns to the next meal after a few days. The site of the bite is easy to detect: it quickly blushes, there is a strong itch, the skin swells, and the puncture point can become foul. This is due to the ingress of human insect saliva, which can cause a powerful inflammation on the skin. Also, the bites of rat flea can be accompanied by rapidly spreading allergic rashes, fever, the appearance of ulcers in the oral cavity, enlarged lymph nodes, headache and even nervous disorders.

The dangers of rat flea bites

To a greater extent, the owners of delicate skin suffer from rat fleas, which is easier to pierce: these are women and children. Rat fleas (photo bites fully conveys all of their danger) are carriers of numerous eggs of worms and a number of dangerous diseases, such as brucellosis, encephalitis, anthrax, salmonella, plague, various forms of hepatitis. In passing, parasites can deliver incredible psychological and physical anxiety to their masters. Indeed, the discomfort that occurs after the bites of such insects is able to disturb even the quietest people, to cause them a feeling of constant fatigue and sleep disturbance.

Pathogens of certain infectious diseases can remain viable in the body of the pest for a sufficiently long period, which makes these insects extremely dangerous for humans. Infectious material is transmitted in the process of sucking a parasite of blood or through the products of vital activity of the latter, appearing in the human body when combing the bitten places.

First aid with a rat flea bite

To provide first aid from the bite place, remove the insect, rinse with soapy water, treat with a disinfectant and apply ice. To avoid the development of allergic reactions, it is recommended to take an antihistamine. To prevent infection in the blood, you should avoid combing the wound. If the temperature rises, a severe allergic reaction, wheezing and shortness of breath, you should immediately contact a medical institution for professional assistance.

Rat fleas in the apartment are able for quite a long time to do without food (about 100 days) and perfectly tolerate any temperature fluctuations. Most often they are found in apartments where such pets live, as hamsters, guinea pigs, decorative mice and rats. It should be understood: the longer against the rat fleas will not be used any methods of struggle, the greater will be their numbers and, accordingly, the risk of developing serious human diseases. If there are rat fleas in the apartment, how to get rid of such parasites, which pose a huge danger to human health?

Methods for getting rid of rat fleas

The best solution for getting rid of rat fleas is professional disinsection. Only specialists in this matter can guarantee the quality disposal of dangerous insects in a short time. In self-control against rat fleas, surface treatment with aerosol insecticides will be effective. The treatment of premises against rat fleas must be approached with all responsibility:

• Provide access to hard-to-reach places;
• Cover or hide food in closets;
• Remove from the premises of animals.

In the process of disinfestation with special care, it is necessary to process cracks, corners, joints of floors, ceilings and walls. Also, we should not forget about carpets, curtains, upholstered furniture. After the end of the insecticide treatment, the room should be closed and left for several hours, giving time for the drug to work. Then the room needs to be ventilated, shake out carpets and curtains on the street, thoroughly wipe the floors with a turpentine solution (on a bucket of water - ½ cup of the drug).

For primary treatments, "Carbofos", Raid, "Tetriks", "Combat", "Medilis Cyper", "Microfos" are effective. A possible second stage may require the use of stronger sprays: Hartz, Frontline, Advantage. Larvae of fleas can be easily destroyed by special means: "Clean house", Fas "," Pyrethrum ". Pets are recommended to treat insecticide drops against fleas (for example, "Barsik"), shampoos or sprays ("Cleanness", Mr. Kiss). And yet, if there were rat fleas in the apartment, how to get rid?

Folk remedies against parasites

From folk methods, you can scare off rat fleas with the help of dry wormwood, which is required to be broken down into rooms. An effective way to prevent rat fleas into the apartment is treating the premises with herbal infusions of wormwood, eucalyptus leaves, tansy. Dried grass should be poured with steep boiling water, insist in a cool place for about 12 hours, pour into a spray and process the room. These medicinal solutions can be used when bathing pets or in skin rubbing.

A natural repeller of rat fleas are pine sawdust, which it is advisable to fill the litter of a pet. It is especially important to perform this operation in the pre-spring period, when the period of flea activation begins.

Preventive measures

Fleas feel comfortable in places where dust and dry debris accumulate; therefore, in order to prevent them from entering their territory, clean rooms should be regularly and thoroughly cleaned with covers, furniture, carpets and bedding on which pets sleep. In a private house, measures to cleanse dirt should also be transferred to cellars and cellars.