Adult fleas are not only a nuisance to humans and their pets, but can cause serious medical problems including allergic dermatitis, tapeworms, secondary skin irritations and, in extreme cases, anemia. Adult fleas are about 1/16 to 1/8-inch long, dark reddish-brown, wingless, hard-bodied (making them very difficult to crush between your fingers), have three pairs of legs (hind legs enlarged enabling jumping) and are flattened vertically or side to side, allowing easy movement between the hair, fur or feathers of the host. Fleas are excellent jumpers, leaping vertically up to seven inches and horizontally thirteen inches. (An equivalent hop for a human would be 250 feet vertically and 450 feet horizontally.) They have piercing-sucking mouthparts and spines on the body projecting backward. [Read more…]