INSECTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD 8l 



are required for the three stages, — egg, larva, and pupa, 

 — and how long the adult lives or how many eggs one 

 may lay nobody knows. The adult readily leaps upon a 

 passing animal, — dog or cat, — and the life circle is 

 repeated, generation after generation, the year round, in 

 artificially heated houses or wherever there is sufficient 

 warmth for development to go on. 



Remedial measures must depend somewhat upon degree 

 of infestation. If a house is badly infested, the thorough 

 dusting of everything — floors, carpets, rugs, sofas, and 

 all upholstered furniture — with fresli pyrethrum powder, 

 left from two days to a week before sweeping up, may 

 afford relief. When this is not effective, the pyrethrum 

 is probably not fresh, but it is sometimes said to be neces- 

 sary to spray the furniture and carpets heavily with ben- 

 zine or naphtha and scrub and soak the floors with hot 

 soapsuds. 



By far the easiest and best way is prevention, and the 

 humane care of household pets demands nothing short of 

 this. As previously stated for dogs, it is necessary only 

 to keep a sharp lookout, and as soon as any fleas are 

 found thoroughly lather the animal before his bath. A 

 dog thus becomes the best automatic flea trap imaginable. 

 Cats may be held on a newspaper and pyrethrum powder 

 thoroughly dusted into the fur. Rabbits, white rats, and 

 squirrels may be treated similarly. Nest boxes, kennels, 

 sleeping rugs, and baskets should also be thoroughly 

 treated with pyrethrum from time to time. 



Lice. — The head louse, Pcdicuhis capitis, lives in the 

 hair of the head. The eggs are known as *Miits" and are 

 securely glued to the hairs a little distance from the scalp, 



