DROWN THOSE FLEAS

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These bug-beating ideas should help you rid your house of hopping and flying invaders.

The summer of 1982 produced a bumper crop of fleas. Companies that normally advertised termite control were suddenly in the flea-elimination business . . . while cats, dogs, and people often found that to settle on a living room rug or couch was to ask for a session of insect acupuncture! Unfortunately, it looks as if this season is going to be a repeat of that one . . . or perhaps even worse.

However, it's really rather easy to keep these bloodsucking members of the order Siphonaptera (as in "siphon"!) under control, and you don't need to subject your pets and family to dangerous insecticides to do so. You see, last year, when my daughter moved from our family home, she took her cat with her

. . but left most of its fleas behind. My family and our pet dog were miserable . . . until I devised a simple trap, based upon the facts that fleas-like most other insects-are attracted to light, and that they'll never earn any medals for swimming.

To make a similar device, place a shallow plate of water, containing a little dishwashing detergent, on the floor in an area frequented by the (present or absent) cat or dog. Then position a gooseneck lamp next to the dish, with its light about six inches above the surface of the liquid. When the family retires for the evening, turn off all of the other lights, but leave the gooseneck on. Drawn to the brightness, the pests will leap toward the lamp and fall into the water.

The purpose of the detergent, as you may have already figured out, is to lower the surface tension of the water. If you don't add it, many of the tiny pests will actually be able to bounce off the liquid and escape. When they fall onto the detergent solution, however, they'll immediately sink, and soon drown.

It's best to move the light and plate to a different location each night, or, if you have enough lamps, to place several traps in different infested areas.

FLEA FACTS AND FIGURES

Mighty though minute (usually less than 3/16 inch long), fleas-members of the family Pulicidae-are hard-bodied, wingless insects that, as adults, feed on blood. The body of the mature insect is very narrow (the better to slip between the hairs of its host animal) and is covered with bristles that point rearward, making it difficult to remove a flea from a pet's fur.

As anyone who's been in an infested house knows, the long-legged jumpers are active . . . moving freely over the bodies of their hosts, and often from one host to another. Typically, they also spend a good portion of their time off the animals upon which they feedhiding in cracks in woodwork and floors, in the nap of carpets, in soil, or in grass-and can survive for weeks without eating at all.

The pests usually hop off their hosts in order to lay eggs, depositing ova in the carpet or soil. If the eggs are laid on a carrier animal, they eventually fall off and develop elsewhere.

Flea larvae-slender, pale, and maggotylookingfeed on organic debris, including their own castof skins and the feces of adult fleas. When fully developed, a larva spins a cocoon, pupates, and emerges as a ravenous leaping flea . . . eager for a ride and a meal.

The procedure to be used to eliminate fleas from an area depends on whether or not a host animal is present. If a dog or cat no longer lives in an infested area, many fleas will be captured in a trap during its first few nights of use. Then, for several nights thereafter, few or no insects will be snared. As the accumulated eggs hatch and the larvae pupate at the site, a new batch of pests will develop and, in turn, succumb to the attraction of the lamplight. Therefore, when the host animal is absent, the flea trap is effective when used intermittently for several weeks.

When a dog or cat is present in the afflicted area, though, the trap still does its job . . . because the insects spend much of their time off the host animal. In such a case, however, the device should be kept in continuous nighttime use for at least a month. Our dog seemed to enjoy sleeping near the light, but I couldn't say whether he was attracted to the warmth of the bulb . . . or was actually seeking the comfort of having the invaders leave his fur!

Finally, in your "battle of the bugs", don't ignore plain old-fashioned good housekeeping. Since flea larvae feast on accumulated organic debris, by vacuuming the rug or floor and cleaning your pet's bedding frequently, you won't provide the pests with a banquet ... and will thus complement your trapping efforts by disrupting the life cycle of the larvae!

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