HOUSEHOLD INSECTS i6i 



Fleas (several species) 

 Order — Siphonaptera. Manual, p. 490 



There are two or three species of fleas that trou- 

 ble household inmates, the human flea and the cat 

 and dog fleas; the latter are the common ones and 

 are the ones usually causing the trouble; the hu- 

 man flea is more or less common in California; the 

 cat and dog fleas lay their white eggs while the flea 

 is on its host but the eggs drop to the floor where 

 they hatch into long worm-like larvae; these larvae 

 live on the material found in the dirt along the 

 cracks of the floor and about the baseboards; cer- 

 tain fleas disseminate disease, especially the plague. 



Control — Get rid of dog or cat or wash them 

 often in a solution of creolin 4 teaspoonfuls to a 

 quart of water for the dog, and 3 teaspoonfuls to 

 a quart for the cat; use rugs and finished floors; 

 wash floors with soapsuds and spray with benzine; 

 use flake napthaline. 



Cockroaches (several species) 

 Order — Orthoptera. Manual, p. 106 



There are four species that cause trouble in the 

 United States; the croton bug, the oriental roach, 

 the American roach, and the Australian roach; 

 they lay their eggs in a mass in a sort of brown 

 bean-like case ; they live upon all kinds of food, but 

 often contaminate with a roachy odor more than 

 they eat; they injure books seriously at times. 



Control — Trap them; use Buhach; use borax; 

 fumigate rooms with hydrocyanic acid gas ; use in- 

 sectoline; use sodium fluoride. 



Bedbug {Cimex lectularius) 

 Order — Hemiptera. Manual, p. 140 

 These insects go into houses in visitors' baggage, 

 in laundry brought in from the washerwoman's ; by 



