Fleas Discovered at SamoHi Nurses Office, and not the kind you take to a market

Yes, that's right, FLEAS! And it's not about the lead singer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Those pesky little black bloodsuckers known as fleas have been found in the nurses office at santa monica high school. The District issued the following Emergency pesticide notice – Samohi nurses office" on Wednesday:

Dear Samohi parents and guardians,

We have discovered fleas in the nurse's office on campus this week and determined that this problem requires emergency treatment.

The treatment will be done Friday, September 9, 2016 at 5 pm with cleaning planned as a follow up. We are required to notify parents of any pesticide treatment. These offices will be safe to occupy on Monday, September 12, 2016.

We are taking this emergency approach in accordance with our Integrated Pest Management program protocol.

Please see the attached notice for the indoor treatment as noted above. No outdoor spaces will be treated at this time. This notice will be posted for 72 hours following treatment.

If you have any additional questions regarding this planned treatment, please contact Terance Venable, Integrated Pest Manager at 310-450-8338 x70211 or tvenable@smmusd.org.

Thank you,

SMMUSD Maintenance & Operations

Fleas are insects that form the order Siphonaptera. How appropriate is that? They are wingless, with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals and birds.

Flea species include:

Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)

Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis)

Human flea (Pulex irritans)

Moorhen flea (Dasypsyllus gallinulae)

Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus)

Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)

Over 2,000 species have been described worldwide.

Michael Balzary, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was first called "Flea" as a child for his seeming inability to sit still, and the nickname stuck ever since