Characteristics: smoothly rounded head, long, strong hind legs, dark mahogany colour.
Biology: Egg–larva–pupa–adult
Egg: up to 1000 per female, 1mm, white, laid after a blood meal in small batches on fur of host. Usually drop off the host onto floor. Hatch in a few days.
Larvae: legless, whitish up to 5mm long, thrive best in humid places. 2-3 moults, fully grown in 2-3 weeks.
Pupae: in cocoon spun by larva, normal emergence 2-4 weeks in response to vibration. Delayed by up to several months if not stimulated.
Adults: brown, wingless, laterally flattened and with large hind legs.
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