The 30 lost fleas: the per-area split and the shortcut almost nobody uses
They are spread across 21 areas, they do not mark themselves on the map, and three are special. But one flea sells you the location of all the others and marks them on your own map.
FleafriendSilver42.36%And it counts towards Flea Finder, required for the platinum.
Start here: the flea that sells the map
There are 30 lost fleas across Pharloom, in cages, tangled in vines or cemented into the floor. They do not mark themselves on the map, and they are spread across twenty-one different areas. It is the game's most scattered collectible and the one most people leave half-done.
Before you start combing the map, this:
Vog, the warrior flea in the Putrified Ducts, sells you the location of every flea you are missing, and marks them on your own map. You pay, and that is it.
The detail that ruins the trick: talk to Vog when you already have all of them but her, and there is nothing left to sell. Vog is formally the last of the thirty, so people tend to save her for last — at which point the service is worthless. Go and get her early, buy the locations, and the rest of the set turns into a shopping list.
If you find her before you are done, Vog relocates to wherever the caravan is and serves you there.
The flea quest starts with Mooshka, the caravan's leader, in The Marrow. It only asks for five to close. The other twenty-five belong to no quest at all: pure collectible, and the trophy wants every one.
The three that are not in a cage
Twenty-seven fleas are freed by breaking something. Three are not, and they are the ones most people leave behind without realising they count.
The Huge Flea, at the top of the Memorium. The only one you have to fight. It is caged at the very top of the area, north-east of the bench. The route means breaking a glass wall and climbing with Faydown Cloak, Cling Grip and Swift Step, then crossing inside with Drifter's Cloak and Clawline — watch the electric mushrooms — to a lever that opens the way up. When you arrive, the giant flea comes at you. Beat it and it returns to Mooshka on its own.
Kratt, in Greymoor, near Halfway Home. This one is not trapped: it wanders around with its backpack, which turns out to be a portable hot spring. Leave Halfway Home by the right-hand door, look for the middle hallway that rises slightly to the right, break the wall and you will find it a little further along. With no cage and no marker, it is easy to walk right past. Back at the caravan, it sets up its spa there.
Vog, in the Putrified Ducts. North-east of the Pale Lake. Getting there needs Clawline, Cling Grip and Faydown Cloak: you climb a cave to the summit, and along the way five vine monsters haul you up, alternating right and left through to the fifth. If you hit one with the Clawline, wait for it to hang its vine again to pull you up. At the very top, to the left, is her cave. Important: the caravan has to be parked in the Putrified Ducts for you to talk to her.
The per-area split
Twenty-one areas. Almost all have one, and six have more than one: those are the ones people most often write off after finding the first.
The abilities column says what you need to get there: if you are missing one, that area is not yet your problem.
| Area | Fleas | Abilities | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Marrow | 1 | — | At the very top of the vertical stretch, hugging the right. This is where the quest starts, with Mooshka. |
| Hunter's March | 1 | — | Climbing the red-bud section by bouncing, dodging the spikes on the wall. |
| Deep Docks | 3 | Swift Step / Drifter's Cloak, and Clawline + Cling Grip for the third | Do these in act 2. In act 3 the enemies here are buffed and the third becomes a slog. The first is west of the Bell Beast, behind a broken wall, among lava streams. |
| Far Fields | 2 | Drifter's Cloak + Cling Grip for the second | The first, going down the main vertical shaft, behind a cracked wall on the right. Freeing it spawns a scout: kill it and step close to the cage. |
| Craw Lake | 1 | — | Upper right of the lake, on the narrow platforms suspended over open space. |
| Greymoor | 2 | — | One at the top of the tower, in a niche. The other is Kratt, near Halfway Home, who is not caged. |
| Bellhart | 1 | — | From Shellwood, breaking the bell growths that block the way. Use the bell-helmeted enemy as a springboard: hit it midair to reach the high ledge. |
| Bilewater | 3 | Cling Grip, Drifter's Cloak and Swift Step for the Exhaust Organ one | The area with the most fleas alongside Deep Docks. One at the far left behind a broken wall, with two snitchflies; another in a secret room at the far left of a trap-lined climb; and the Exhaust Organ one, tangled in vines at the north-east edge. |
| Blasted Steps | 1 | Faydown Cloak | On a ledge beside a tall stone pillar, in the scorched outer section. Without the double jump you cannot reach it. |
| Choral Chambers | 2 | Cling Grip, Faydown Cloak, Drifter's Cloak, Swift Step | Both start from the Citadel Spa bench: one to the north-east, at the edge; the other to the north-west, and for that one you activate a fan by hitting a cog behind a broken wall, then climb above before gliding. |
| Memorium | 1 | Faydown Cloak, Cling Grip, Swift Step, Drifter's Cloak and Clawline | Huge Flea: the only one you have to fight. See the previous section. |
| Mount Fay | 1 | — | On the area's normal route: after the tunnel, instead of going down, climb the wall on your left. |
| Sands of Karak | 1 | Swift Step + Clawline | Entering from Blasted Steps, to the right: two platforming stretches, then up and slightly left there is a platform with a red crab. Kill it, keep going left and chain dashes and grapples up to the alcove at the top. |
| Shellwood | 1 | Faydown Cloak, Drifter's Cloak, Cling Grip | From the Bellway, east and then down to the far bottom-right. It is tangled in vines: hit them. |
| Sinner's Road | 1 | — | In the hanging-cage area, heading down-right to a partly broken cage hiding a passage. Freeing it wakes two enemies. |
| Songclave | 1 | Clawline + Cling Grip | The longest of the lot. You descend toward the Whispering Vaults, bottom-right room, a hidden passage at the top of the right wall; then gears, spikes, a lever that frees an air current, and outside a stretch of golden spike traps chaining hooks to the top. Careful: overshoot one particular wall and you drop into Bilewater and have to redo it. |
| The Slab | 2 | Cling Grip | One west of the north-east bench, in a round entrance; reachable before opening the Heretic Key bridge. The other, by the Bellway bench: jump off the left wall into the hole on the right. |
| Underworks | 1 | — | South-west of The Cauldron bench, down to the lava floor and then left. It is cemented in: break the cement. Watch the exploding bugs. |
| Whispering Vaults | 1 | Clawline, Cling Grip, Faydown Cloak, Swift Step | North-east of The Stage. It is a moving platform puzzle: hit it on one side to send it the other way, and you follow it up and sideways until you can jump to the cage. |
| Wisp Thicket | 1 | Clawline, Faydown Cloak, Cling Grip | You climb up from Greymoor. You will know you are in the right place when you see a lot of bamboo. Up and to the left there are spiked mechanical hazards that take two health points: dodge them to the lever that opens the way up. The flea is cemented in on the left. |
| Wormways | 1 | Clawline, Drifter's Cloak, Faydown Cloak, Cling Grip | South-east of the bench. Break the wall on the right and keep going to the enemy that took it: kill it to free the flea. |
| Putrified Ducts | 1 | Clawline, Cling Grip, Faydown Cloak | Vog, the one who sells you the locations. Go early: see the first section. |
When you free a flea, step close to it before leaving the room: it only counts once it flies off-screen. Breaking the cage and walking away leaves the flea unregistered, and later your count adds up while your map does not.
The trophies involved
Each one links to its section inside the full Hollow Knight: Silksong trophy guide.