Flea Season
Some Facts About the Flea Season
Flea season duration depends on the area of the country that you live in. In areas where extreme cold begins early in the fall and lasts well into the spring, the flea season is significantly shorter than in areas where they see mild winters and hot summers.
In the northern United States and into Canada, flea season usually starts in April or May and lasts only until the early fall. In these areas, the colder temperatures keep the fleas from becoming a problem for many months out of the year.
In moderate climates, such as the Midwest United States, the flea season may run from March until December, depending on what type of weather they experience. Many vets in these areas suggest that their clients begin their flea prevention in February.
In warmer areas like California and Florida, the flea season lasts year-round.
In almost any area of the United States, the fleas begin to come out of their pupae as adult fleas, and find their way to the nearest dog or cat for their meals of blood. Adult fleas mate shortly after they emerge, and the female may begin laying eggs as soon as thirty-six hours later. She may only live for fifty days or so, but in that time, she may lay more than two thousand eggs.
Unhappily, fleas are very adapted for their survival. After the female lays her eggs on the host animal, they fall off into the dog bed, carpet, grass or soil. They will hatch from there in 2-5 days. Then the larva feed on debris around them. Within a couple weeks, the larva will spin a cocoon to protect it while it develops into an adult flea. And then within the pupa's hard shell, the larva will transform into the six-legged adult flea, and the cycle starts again.
In temperate climates like the Midwest, the flea season is extended, when its life cycle takes about forty days in the early spring and about twenty days in the middle of summer. Later in the summer, their cycles may slow to sixty days or more, and then between November and early April, they pretty much shut down. In the southern states and along the Gulf coast, fleas' cycles last twenty or less days for most every month, and only slow down a bit in the middle of the winter.
Humidity and temperature both factor into the flea season in a given area, as well. Flea eggs need about seventy percent humidity to hatch, and larvae require a humidity level of at least fifty percent in order to survive. In more humid areas, roughly twenty percent of eggs survive to become adult fleas; in more arid areas, fewer than five percent of eggs complete the full growth cycle.
If your dog brings in fleas in for the winter season, it's difficult to say how much of a problem they'll be. The warmth and humidity can keep larvae alive until they can emerge as adults.
Flea season varies a lot from area to area, but it's never too early to be on the alert for fleas and to start your preventive measures. Many multi-purpose spot ons that treat worms and heart worms as well as fleas are designed to be used year round.