Adult fleas live off the blood of animals and are very difficult to kill. They have hard bodies that make them difficult to 'squish'. Fleas can jump distances of up to 1 metre (3.2 feet). A female flea can lay between 20-30 eggs in one day and she can continue laying that many eggs for between 6 and 9 months. If she lives for 9 months she'll have produced 8,000 eggs. If half of these fleas are females and start laying eggs, this will result in about 500 eggs per day being laid or 15,000 eggs per month!
Fishing for an end to algae
Fishing for an end to algae A biologist has developed and innovative
waste-water purification system using fish and algae! Devastating
blooms of algae often grow from sewage discharges into lakes and
rivers, but Ray Drenner has discovered a way to use the algae and
found a fish that will eat it. The algae feeds on phosphorus and
nitrogen that is still in the water after it is treated in sewage
plants, and its growth can suffocate fish, plants and insects.
However, Drenner has found a species of African fish, the
Mozambican mouth brooder, which thrives on the algae. In a system
of tanks filled with fish and algae, sewage water is cleaned of
phosphorus and nitrogen by the algae, and then of algae by the
fish. This leaves the water clean to be discharged or recycled. And
as long as there are no heavy metals in the water, the fish are
safe to eat! FEBRUARY 24, 2000
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