BED BUG

BED BUG (1)

Bed Bugs in the Bedroom

Known for feeding on humans while they sleep, bed bugs are the most common household pest. Bed bugs are found virtually anywhere humans congregate, including single-family homes, hotels/motels, hospitals and schools. Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers, catching rides from one place to another using suitcases, dirty laundry, and even books. Once they reach their new destination, these nocturnal creatures will typically hide somewhere in the bedroom, often in bed frames, which provides easy access to human hosts.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?

Bed bugs get their name from their habit of feeding on human hosts in bed. They are excellent hitchhikers, easily transported and are found in many different types of dwellings, which makes them difficult to control. For this reason, it is crucial that you learn how to identify bed bugs.

Bed bug infestations continue to plague Americans. 99.6 percent of pest professionals treated for bed bugs in 2014, according to our most recent Bugs Without Borders survey. Do you know how to identify bed bugs? View our pest profile below:

Bed bugs likely get their name from their habit of feeding on humans while they sleep in their beds. They are found in virtually every place people tend to gather, including residences, hotels, schools, offices, retail stores and even public transportation.

If you do identify bed bugs in your home, Sure Strike Pest Control promptly. We will be able to inspect your home, confirm the species and recommend a course of bed bug treatment.

Habits

Bed bugs like to travel and are good hitchhikers. They will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply. They are elusive, nocturnal creatures. They can hide behind baseboards and in cracks, crevices, and folded areas of beds, bedding and adjacent furniture, especially mattresses and box springs. Bed bugs can also hide in electrical switchplates, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a home, car, bus, or another shelter. Bed bugs usually come out at night for a blood meal. However, they are opportunistic insects and can take a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily-infested areas. Bed bugs usually require 5-10 minutes to engorge with blood. After feeding, they move to secluded places and hide for 5-10 days. During this time in the bed bug life cycle, they do not feed but instead digest their meal, mate, and lay eggs.

Habitat

So where do bed bugs live? Bed Bugs like to hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. They can be found behind baseboards, wallpaper, upholstery, and in furniture crevices. Beg bugs are also known to survive in temporary or alternative habitats, such as backpacks and under the seats in cars, buses and trains.

Threats

Although bed bugs can dine on any warm-blooded animal, they primarily dine on humans. Bed bugs do not transmit diseases, but their bites can become red, itchy welts.

Bed Bug Prevention
-Vacuum suitcases after returning from a vacation.
-Check your bedsheets for tell-tale blood spots.
-Consider bringing a large plastic trash bag to keep your suitcase in during hotel stays.
-Carry a small flashlight to assist you with quick visual inspections.
-Never bring second-hand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining for signs of a bed bug infestation. You might consider having one of our exterminators inspect the furniture as it is difficult to detect an infestation if you are untrained.
-Regularly inspect areas where pets sleep for signs of bed bugs.
-Bed bugs are elusive creatures, so it is imperative to seek professional pest control to address an infestation.

Adult Bedbugs are about 1/8 of an inch long with reddish brown oval flattened bodies the nymphs resemble the adults but Are smaller and some white lighter in color. Bedbugs feed solely on the blood of animals the common bedbug prefers feeding on humans, But will also buy other warm blooded animals, including pets. They feed by piercing the skin with an elongated beak. The person seldom knows they are being bitten. Bite symptoms vary from an itchy wealth or localized swelling too little or no reaction. Although they can harbor pathogens in their bodies, disease transmission by Bedbugs to humans is considered highly unlikely. Bedbugs do not fly but can move rapidly over floors walls, ceilings and other surfaces. If necessary they will crawl more than 100 feet to obtain a blood meal. Female Bedbugs lay their eggs in Secluded areas, deposited up to five a day and up to 500 door in a lifetime. The eggs are whitish and hard to see on most surfaces without magnification. Individual eggs are about the size of a dust speck.When first laid, the eggs are sticky, causing them to adhere to substrates. Newly hatched limbs on low bigger than a pinhead. As they grow, they shed their skins five times before reaching maturity. A blood meal is needed between each successive molt. Under favorable conditions 70° to 90° the bed bugs can complete development in as little as a month, producing three or four generations per year. Lifes can survive months without feeding and the adults for more than a year infestations are therefore unlikely to diminish by leaving premises on occupied. Bedbugs or active mainly at night. During the daytime day prefer to hide close to where people sleep. Bedbugs do not have nest like ants or bees but do tend to congregate in habitable hiding places. Typically these areas are marked by dark spotting and staining, and sometimes are accompanied by a Sweetish odor. Also present will be eggs and egg shells and molted skins of maturing Nymphs.