What is a Flea?
"Flea" is the common name for any of the small wingless insects of the order Siphonaptera. Fleas are external parasites, living off the blood of mammals and birds. Fleas are small dark, reddish-brown, wingless, blood-sucking insects. Their bodies are laterally compressed permitting easy movement through the hairs of their host's body. Their legs are long and well adapted for jumping. A flea can jump 130 times its own height. Of the 1,830 varieties of fleas, the champion jumper is the cat flea. It has been known to leap to a height of 34 inches. Fleas are the most common source of human insect bites within the home. Fleas are fast-moving and will jump when disturbed. People usually get bit around the ankles, producing a raised red welt. Fleas are most often associated with pets, although the presence of mice, rats and other wild animals may cause a flea infestation, they are not as likely. Fleas, mange mites, and ticks are the most frequently encountered troublesome pests that attack humans and their pets.

What are Lice?
Lice belong to the order Phthiraptera, and are the only truly parasitic group amongst the exopterygote insects. As permanent ectoparasites parasites of most birds and mammals they exhibit a remarkable level of host specificity which is unparalleled in most other metazoan parasites. Most individuals will spend their entire life cycle on a single host. There are over 3000 species of these wingless parasitic insects. Head lice or (Pediculus capitis) are tiny, wingless parasitic insects that live amongst human hairs and feed on extremely small amounts of blood drawn from the underlining scalp. Lice, the plural of louse, have long been associated with humans since head lice have been recovered from prehistoric mummies.

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