What is a Bed Bug?
Bed bugs likely get their name from their habit of taking refuge in beds and feeding on humans while they sleep. Bed bugs feed only on blood and must have regular blood meals to survive and develop. Humans are not bed bugs’ only targets, they also will attack many warm-blooded animals, including poultry and other birds. Bed bugs have been associated with humans for more than 3,300 years and are found in virtually every place people tend to gather, including residences, hotels, schools, offices, retail stores and even public transportation.
Bed bugs are great “hitch hikers,” allowing them to travel long distances. They latch onto suitcases, clothes, and linens and can end up wherever these items are taken. This is why the spread of bed bugs occurs so easily. Furthermore, it’s often hard to identify bed bug bites, and they can easily be confused with bites from a different pest, making infestations difficult to detect and allowing populations to grow unnoticed.
How to identify Bed Bugs
Appearance
Bed bugs are flat, reddish-brown, oval insects up to 4 to 5 mm long or the size of an apple seed. Swollen and reddish after a blood meal.
Behavior, Diet & Habits
Bed bugs only feed on blood. Under cool conditions, bed bugs have been able to survive up to a year without a meal. They prefer to be more active at night when the host is asleep.
Bed bugs are found in cracks and crevices, including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates, and picture frames. Often found in hotels, where they can travel from room to room and in visitors’ luggage or other personal belongings such as purses and briefcases.
Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
1. Seeing the bugs. Adult bed bugs are about the shape and size of an apple seed.
2. Case skins. As the juvenile bugs grow, they shed their skins, discovery of which can indicate their presence.
3. Defecation. After feeding, bed bugs return to their harborage to hide where they defecate black to brown stains on porous surfaces or black to brown mounds on nonporous surfaces.
4. Bites also may indicate bed bug activity, but further signs will need to be found since other sources can cause red welts on the skin.
How do you get Bed Bugs?
You can pick up bed bugs almost anywhere — offices, stores, hotels and gyms for starters. They’re great at hiding and have been known to hitchhike in luggage, personal belongings or even you. Once indoors, they can be very difficult to control without the help of an experienced pest specialist. You can reduce your chances of a costly bed bug infestation by catching them early.
Tips
- Remove all clutter from your home, which makes finding bed bugs easier.
- Wash and dry your bed linens on the hottest temperature permitted.
- Closely inspect any second-hand furniture before bringing it in your home.
- Inspect your home after moving, trips, service calls or overnight guests.
How serious are Bed Bugs?
Reproduction
Females can deposit one to five eggs a day and may lay 200 to 500 eggs in a Bed Bug’s lifetime. Under normal room temperatures and with an adequate food supply, they can live for more than 300 days.
Bed Bugs and Disease
It is possible that Bed Bugs can carry diseases, however, they are not known to transmit diseases to people.
Bed Bug Bites
Bed Bugs feed exclusively on blood, and people have various responses to Bed Bug Bites.
If you suspect that you have a bed bug infestation, call us immediately. Because Bed Bugs can breed quickly, time is of the essence when combatting an infestation.
