The larvae then feed on human skin, hair and dust and after about fourteen days turn into pupae - remember your school biology?. Pupae can also lay dormant for months, but warmth and high humidity promote their emergence and the lifecycle then starts again.

Flea populations can rise rapidly under the right conditions and cause a lot of distress all round. The key to controlling fleas is breaking the life cycle.  If you manage fleas on your pet and have a good vacuuming programme, you should be able to keep flea numbers down without applying chemical pesticides around the house.