All About Bed Bugs: Pest Library

Bed bugs are easily overlooked unless you have learned key features to identify them. Adults are 4 to 5 mm in length, are reddish brown in color, are oval-shaped with flattened bodies, and have two antennae and six legs. The abdomen of bed bugs is darker in color after a blood meal. Their flattened body allows them to hide in small places like bed frames, sofas, behind loose wallpaper, under carpets, in baseboards or cracks in floors, as well as behind picture frames and other areas that make them challenging to observe. Bed bugs hang out in close proximity to one another and a resulting large population will emit an unpleasant, sweet odor.

Bed bugs are attracted to humans because of the carbon dioxide and warmth we produce. They especially infest multi-unit buildings, like hotels and apartments, which experience high turnover and where they are frequently introduced by luggage or used furniture. Bed bugs are hitchhikers that hide in people’s belongings, like purses, briefcases, and laptop bags; they don’t actually cling to people. Once hiding within belongings, they are easily introduced to homes, offices, hospitals, and other structures. Additionally, bed bugs can infest various modes of transportation. Unlike many other pests, proper hygiene does not prevent bed bug infestations. 

To detect bed bug activity, observe bedding, mattresses, and box springs for living or dead insects, molted skins, and small reddish-black spots of fecal matter. Bed bugs also lay their eggs (which are 0.8 to 3 mm in size) in small cracks and crevices near where they feed. Frequently bed bug bites are not noticed or are misdiagnosed.

Bed bugs tend to stay in areas where they have become established, but they may also be spread as the result of several scenarios. Bed bugs may spread as the result of disturbance, such as from taking apart furniture or from incorrectly applied pesticides. When they experience a food shortage, bed bugs may migrate to neighboring rooms in search of suitable hosts. Likewise, a shortage of appropriate sheltering areas may result in bed bugs migrating to other rooms. Bed bugs can also be spread through many human activities, such as using the same vacuum cleaner in multiple rooms or by moving infested furniture within the home or passing it on to others. 

Upon detection of bed bug activity, leave the room and do not disturb the contents any further. Make sure not to take any items out of the infested room as that may contribute to allowing the bed bugs to spread further. Immediately contact a trusted professional pest control company, like Major Pest Control. The pest control company will inspect the premises and advise on pre-treatment procedures.

Bed bug infestations require the services of a professional pest control company because their life cycle makes them extremely difficult to eradicate. Females lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime, in clutches of 10 to 50 eggs at a time. After six to 17 days of development, eggs hatch and nymphs are released. These nymphs look like small versions of adults and will undergo several molts in becoming adults. Adult bed bugs can survive more than one year between blood meals.

Bed bug infestations can be prevented by regularly cleaning and vacuuming bedrooms, by conducting regular inspections of bedding for live or dead insects or their molted skins, by using certified bed bug encasements to protect mattresses and box springs, by using light colored sheets to make fecal spots easier to detect, by inspecting furniture near sleeping areas paying particular attention to seams, crevices, and folds, and by sealing cracks in the walls, trim, and bed frames.