Everything You Want to Know About Bed Bugs

 

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, and they also will attack many warm-blooded animals, including poultry and other birds. Bed bugs have got associated with humans for more than 3,300 years. They get found in virtually every place people tend to gather, including residences, hotels, schools, offices, retail stores and even public transportation.

Bed bugs are great hitchhikers, 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 quickly. Furthermore, it’s often hard to identify bed bug bites, and they can easily be confused with bites from a different pest, making infestations challenging to detect and allowing populations to grow unnoticed.

Before the mid-20th century, bed bugs were widespread. According to a report by the U.K. Ministry of Health, in 1933, houses in many areas had some degree of bed bug infestation.

Bed bug infestations usually occur around or near the areas where people sleep. These areas include apartments, shelters, rooming houses, hotels, cruise ships, buses, trains, and dorm rooms.

They hide during the day in places such as seams of mattresses, box springs, bed frames, headboards, dresser tables, inside cracks or crevices, behind wallpaper, or any other clutter or objects around a bed. Bed bugs can travel over 100 feet in a night but tend to live within 8 feet of where people sleep.

Because bed bugs get found in any location where humans congregate and spend extended time, it is vital to be on the lookout for bed bugs when using public transportation or sitting in public spaces like libraries. In particular, hotel rooms should get thoroughly inspected before sleeping in the bed. Check the bed sheets for tell-tale blood spots or sightings of the bugs or eggshells.

Use a small flashlight to assist with visual inspections. Because bed bugs also tend to travel easily, be sure to vacuum suitcases and inspect for any signs of bed bugs upon returning from a vacation. Also consider bringing a large trash bag to keep your suitcase in during hotel stays and wash clothes on hot cycles once you return home, even those that haven’t been worn.

Where do bed bugs come from?

Additionally, never bring second-hand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining for signs of bed bugs. You might consider having a pest control professional inspect the furniture as it is challenging to detect an infestation if you are untrained.

Where are bedbugs found?

Bedbugs are found all over the world. Bedbug infestations were common in the U.S. before World War II and became rare after widespread use of the pesticide DDT for pest control began in the 1940s and 1950s. They remained prevalent in other areas of the world and, in recent years, have been increasingly observed again in the U.S.

Increases in immigration and travel from the developing world as well as restrictions on the use of more potent insecticides may be factors that have led to the relatively recent increase in bedbug infestations. While bedbug infestations get often reported to get found when sanitation conditions are poor or when birds or mammals (particularly bats) are nesting on or near a home, bedbugs can also live and thrive in clean environments. Crowded living quarters also facilitate the spread of bedbug infestations.

Bedbugs can live in any area of the home and use tiny cracks in furniture as well as on textiles and upholstered furniture as hiding places. They tend to be most common in areas where people sleep and generally concentrate in beds, including mattresses or mattress covers, box springs, and bed frames.

They do not infest the sleeping surfaces of beds as commonly as cracks and crevices associated with the bed frame and mattress, including mattress seams. Other sites where bedbugs often reside and potentially infested items include curtains, edges of carpet, corners inside dressers and other furniture, cracks in wallpaper (particularly near the Bedhead), and inside the spaces of wicker furniture.

Since bedbugs can live for months or even longer under favourable conditions without feeding, they can also get found in vacant homes.

How do bedbugs spread?

Bedbugs live in any articles of furniture, clothing, or bedding, so they or their eggs may be present in used furniture or clothing. They spread by crawling and may contaminate multiple rooms in a home or even multiple dwellings in apartment buildings. They may also hide in boxes, suitcases, or other items that move from residence to residence or from a hotel to home. Bedbugs can live on clothing from home infestations and may be spread by a person unknowingly wearing infested clothing.

Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation

You can quickly identify bed bugs by small reddish-brown faecal spots on mattresses, upholstery or walls. If these spots get found, it can indicate an infestation. Bites on the arms and legs are also a tell-tale sign of bed bugs. While these bites can be small, if they swell and become itchy, they are noticeable. It can take two to three days for these bites to appear, allowing the infestation to grow. However, bites alone do not indicate an infestation without other bed bug evidence.

Outbreaks can also get identified by sightings of bed bug moult skins, their eggs, empty eggshells, or the bugs themselves. All of these things are quite small, but still visible to the human eye. Bed bug moult skins, as well as their eggshells, appear pale white after moulting or emerging from the eggshell, respectively.

Pest Control

If you can’t wipe out bedbugs on your own, it’s time to get the pros involved. Pest control companies have the advantage of using chemicals and other treatments that aren’t available to you. They have insecticides that both kill bugs on contact and that stay inside furniture and cracks to kill bedbugs in the long-term.

Pest control companies can also use whole room heat treatments. They bring in special equipment that heats the room to a temperature of between 135 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit high enough to kill bedbugs.

The rise in infestations has been hard to track because bed bugs are not an easily identifiable problem and are one that people prefer not to discuss. Most of the reports get collected from pest-control companies, local authorities, and hotel chains.

Pest Management

To find a professional belonging to the National Pest Management Association, go to the Pest World website and type in your zip code in the search box under “Find a Professional.” When working with a pest management company, there are some additional things you might have to do to help get rid of bed bugs.

Bed bugs that try to climb up from the floor to the BedBed become trapped in the outer wall. Any bed bugs that try to climb down will become trapped in the centre well. Bed bug interceptors not only help to reduce the number of bed bugs that can reach the BedBed but also help determine whether bed bugs are present. You can buy bed bug interceptors online, from pest management companies, or retail stores.

National Pest Management Association reported a 71% increase in bed bug calls between 2000 and 2005.

Heat Treatment

Don’t turn up the heat. Exposing bed bugs to 120 F or more an hour will kill all life stages, and whole-structure or container heat treatments do work. But the caution is similar to using cold. High heat must get maintained at every point in the building: the outer walls, deep in the sofa, etc. for the full hour. Professionals enclose the structure, using tools to guarantee that it reaches the right temperature. If you go with a full-structure heat treatment, consider if the heat could damage furniture, appliances, and belongings.

Pest control companies can also use whole room heat treatments. They bring in special equipment that heats the room to a temperature of between 135 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit high enough to kill bedbugs.

How to get rid of bed bugs

Hire a professional exterminator. We recommend that you seek assistance from a professional pest control company.

An exterminator uses speciality equipment to move furniture, take it apart and control the infestation.

They perform careful inspections along with non-chemical controls (heat treatments, vacuuming and steam treatments) and insecticide treatments.

The insecticides used are commercial products requiring specialized equipment and training.

You can use your washing machine and dryer to kill bed bugs infesting clothes and other washable items. Clothes laundered in hot water and/or dried in temperatures hotter than 122F for 20 minutes will kill all stages of bed bugs. This is typically the medium-high setting. If you are not sure what temperature your drier can reach, ask a professional to test it for you. You can also heat curtains and other fabrics, rugs, shoes, backpacks, stuffed animals, toys and similar objects by drying them at medium-high for about 30 minutes for a full load.

Bed Bug Bites

A bed bug bite affects each person differently. Bite responses can range from an absence of any physical signs of the bite to a small bite mark to a severe allergic reaction. Bed bugs are not considered to be dangerous; however, an allergic reaction to several bites may need medical attention.

Because bed bug bites affect everyone differently, some people may not react and will not develop bite marks or any other visible signs of being bitten. Other people may be allergic to the bed bugs and can react adversely to the bites. These allergic symptoms can include enlarged bite marks, painful swellings at the bite site, and, on rare occasions, anaphylaxis.

Their bites are not known to transmit any infectious disease Complications may rarely include areas of dead skin, or vasculitis Bed bug bites are caused primarily by two species of insects.

Checking your Bed and bedding

Bed bug infestations usually occur around or near the areas where people sleep. These areas include apartments, shelters, rooming houses, hotels, cruise ships, buses, trains, and dorm rooms. They hide during the day in places such as seams of mattresses, box springs, bed frames, headboards, dresser tables, inside cracks or crevices, behind wallpaper, or any other clutter or objects around a bed. Bed bugs can travel over 100 feet in a night but tend to live within 8 feet of where people sleep.

Do bed bugs spread disease?

Bed bugs are not known to spread disease. Bed bugs can be an annoyance because their presence may cause itching and loss of sleep. Sometimes the itching can lead to excessive scratching that can sometimes increase the chance of a secondary skin infection.

What health risks do bed bugs pose?

A bed bug bite affects each person differently. Bite responses can range from an absence of any physical signs of the bite to a small bite mark to a severe allergic reaction. Bed bugs are not considered to be dangerous; however, an allergic reaction to several bites may need medical attention.

The life cycle of the Common Bed Bug

Bed bugs have five immature nymph life stages and a final sexually mature adult stage.

Cimex lectularius aggregate under all life stages and mating conditions. Bed bugs may choose to aggregate because of predation, resistance to desiccation, and more opportunities to find a mate. Airborne pheromones are responsible for aggregations.

Cimex lectularius (the common bed bug) and Cimex hemipterus, found primarily in the tropics.

Cimex lectularius (the common bed bug) and Cimex hemipterus. These insects feed exclusively on blood and may survive a year without eating.

After mating, females lay white, oval eggs (1/16" long) into cracks and crevices.

An individual bed bug can lay 200 to 250 eggs in her lifetime.

The eggs hatch in 6 to 10 days and the newly emerged nymphs seek a blood meal.

What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?

Summary:

• Bed bugs are blood-sucking insects whose bites can cause health impacts such as skin rashes, allergic symptoms, and psychological effects.
• Like other true bugs, bed bugs produce a strange odour when crushed.
• The bite resembles bites from other insects such as fleas and chiggers.

Bugs have Flat Bodies.

Bed bugs are experts at hiding. Their slim flat bodies allow them to fit into the smallest of spaces and stay there for long periods, even without a blood meal. Bed bugs are usually transported from place to place as people travel. The bed bugs travel in the seams and folds of luggage, overnight bags, folded clothes, bedding, furniture, and anywhere else where they can hide. Most people do not realise they are transporting stow-away bed bugs as they travel from location to location, infecting areas as they go.

Infested Area

If you find bed bugs at home, it’s best to keep sleeping in the bed. Packing up to spend time elsewhere could bring bugs to an uninfested area. And the bugs could move to neighbouring rooms in search of a meal.

Don’t move infested items out of the room without wrapping them in plastic. Bed bugs or eggs could get knocked off into an uninfested area.

Ref: (en.wikipedia.org)(extension.umn.edu)