Flea Control in Southern, CA

The only good flea is a dead flea (not counting the one that’s slappin’ da bass for The Red Hot Chili Peppers).

There’s nothing savory about these pests – they hatch from larva and feast on the fecal pellets of their adult forbearers until they enter the pupa stage, wherein they enter a pesticide-resistant cocoon, which can last up to six months or until they sense the presence of a hot-blooded body to chomp on.

Then, when the moment’s right, they bust out of their cocoons as vicious blood suckers that scorn the likes of pets, cats and humans alike. They burrow into skin with a sharp, straw-like mouth that they force into the bloodstream to draw out the blood. Pretty nightmarish, right? Ridley Scott probably owes these bugs some serious royalties for using these nightmarish characteristics in his horror movie Alien.

And that itchiness, redness and swelling that occurs when you or your pet has been bitten? That’s the anti-coagulant they inject to ensure you don’t cut off their meal prematurely. Hold on for a second while we shudder in the corner for a couple minutes.

The gestation period in which the larva enter the pupa stage makes it extremely difficult for exterminators to eliminate fleas, because even if the adults are eradicated, the cocoons and eggs can hang around long after the exterminator collects his payment. They’ll outlive the effects of the pesticides and will likely hatch right as your exterminator is pulling out of the dealership in his Corvette purchased with your money (we exterminators know how to roll).

However, recent developments in flea-combating technology have enabled us to halt the growth and reproduction cycle of fleas. In the mid ’90s, veterinary pharmacists developed an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) known as Program and Precor, which then evolved into a more user-friendly solution called Advantage.

If you’re a pet owner, you know the miracle of Advantage. These IGRs enter an animal’s bloodstream via pills (Precor) or topical application (Advantage, Program) and, if ingested by a flea, will break up the life cycle by mutating the first two stages of development, making it impossible for a flea to get past the cocoon stage. Go science!

How Lloyd Pest Control can protect you against fleas

At Lloyd Pest Control, we will treat the exterior of your home with a low-intensity pest barrier. Inside we treat all the places where fleas like to hang out: furniture, carpets and common pet areas. We will also highly recommend an IGR program for your pet. Once the fleas’ cycles of life are destroyed, they will either die or move on to become famous bassists in the burgeoning rap-rock scene that’s so big with young insects these days.