Fleas: fun faqs
- Fleas can pull 160,000 times their own weight, which is the same as you pulling 2,679 double-deckerbuses.
- A flea can jump 30,000 times without stopping.
- Fleas don’t have ears and are virtually blind.
- The average flea is between2mm and 3mm long and weighs about 0.03g.
- The world’s biggest flea is the beaver flea, which is about 11mm.
- Fleas reverse direction with every jump.
- Flea larvae don’t like the light so they move away from it, deep into carpets, cracks in flooring or any nook or cranny.
- When a flea jumps, it accelerates 50 times faster than a space shuttle.
- Fleas can lay up to 1,500 eggs in their lifetime.
- Flea brides and grooms (dressed, but dead) were popular collector’s items in the 1920s.
- Flea pupae can live for up to one year in homes.
- Fleas can jump over 150 times their own size (approximately 30cm high) – which is like you jumping the length of a football field.
- A flea’s life cycle can be as short as 14 days or up to 12 months.
- 95% of flea eggs, larvae and pupae live in beds, rugs, carpets and sofas – not on your pet.
- Just one flea can become 1,000 on your pet and in your home in only 21 days.
- Flea circuses originated in England in the 16thcentury.
- One of Britain’s oldest games can trace its origins to the flea. In approximately 15 different European languages, the word ‘tiddlywinks’ translates as ‘the game of the flea’.
- In nearly all species, the female is larger than the male.
- The collective name for a group of fleas is a swarm.
- Sand fleas are only active at dawn and dusk.
- Fleas can be frozen for up to a year and then revive themselves.
(Health24, March 2011) Source: http://frontlineplus.co.za/goodies/flea_facts.asp
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