BED BUGS 

Bed bugs are blood feeding insects that feed on humans, usually during night hours when people are sleeping. Since we do not often observe bed bugs biting, it is easy to mistake the itchy, swollen areas on the skin for other insect bites. While the bites can become infected from scratching, bed bugs are not known to transmit any disease; however, they are still a nuisance and serious pest problem.

Despite their name, bed bugs can infest areas other than beds. They tend to locate in cracks and crevices, such as behind baseboards, wall outlets, and wallpaper; between bed joints, slats, and dresser drawers; and along mattress seams and in linens and clothes. Most bed bug infestations occur in the home, along with college dorms, apartments, hotels, motels, guest houses, nursing home, shelters, dormitories, resorts, and cruise ships where lots of people come and go. Bed bugs easily transfer from one site to another through infested belongings like clothes, suitcases, second-hand furniture, beds, and bedding. Bed bugs are found worldwide, but are most common in developing countries. 

   

Bed bugs are small flat, wingless insects with six legs that, like mosquitoes, feed on blood from animals or people. They rang in color from almost white to brown, but turn rusty red after feeding. The common bedbug doesn’t grow much longer that 0.2 inches and can be seen by the naked eye to the astute observer. Adult bed bugs can survive 6-7 months without feeding, and have been known to live in abandoned houses for 1 year. This, combined with the fact that females lay 2-5 eggs a day (and 200-500 eggs in her lifetime), means that bed bug infestations will not go away without proper treatment.

   

FEEDING HABITS

These nocturnal creatures can hide in beds, floors, furniture, wood, and paper trash during the day. We humans usually become their dinner during the night, with peak biting activity just before dawn. They can obtain their meal in as little as three minutes, after which they are engorged and drop off the host, then craw. into hiding place to digest their meal. Bedbugs can live for 10 months, and can go weeks without feeding. 

DETECTION, SIGNS, AND SYMPTOMS OF:

Amazingly, these sneaky little bloodsuckers dine on you without waking you. You don’t feel their stealthy bite because they inject a numbing agent into your body, along with an anticoagulant to keep you blood flowing as they suck. The first sign of bed bugs may be itchy, red bites on the skin, usually on the arms or shoulders. Bed bugs tend to leave straight rows of bites. Bed bug bites do not usually require treatment. If a secondary infection occurs (usually from scratching), apply a local antiseptic lotion or anibiotic cream or ointment. Creams with corticosteroids and oral antihistaminesare used for the primary, unbearable symptom of itch. In these more severe cases, you may need to see your doctor. Bed bugs are difficult to detect because of their elusive behavior, but here are some key things to look for:

• The bugs themselves, as well as light-brown, molted skins.
• Itchy welts (can be mistaken for flea or insect bites).
• Small spots of blood on sheets and mattress covers.
• Dark spotting and staining with sweetish foul odor around sites where they are located.

   

DO BEDBUGS TRANSMIT DISEASE?

Bed bugs are more of a nuisance than a health hazard. In a recent study, researchers reviewed 53 recent studies on bedbugs and their health and medical effects. The results showed that although bedbugs have been blamed for the spread of up to 40 different human diseases, there is little evidence to suggest they are carriers of human disease.

TO AVOID BRINGING BED BUGS BACK WITH YOU FROM TRAVEL:

• NEVER place your luggage on or next to the beds or floor.
• Before you settle into the hotel room inspect the bed and furniture. Check behind the headboard. This is the best place to look for bed bugs because it is where they are not disturbed, yet still close to their food source.
• Take the sheet, pull it back, and look at the folds and seams of the mattress. Check the mattress for blood spots about the size of a pencil point.
• When packing to leave, check your clothing and luggage for signs of the small insects. Check seams and folds carefully.
• If you are bitten while staying in a motel or hotel room, look very carefully around the mattress and bed to try to determine if bed bugs or another biting insect, such as a mosquito, caused it. If you discover bed bugs, report the situation immediately to motel/hotel staff.
• You can kill bed bugs with heat in excess of 113 F. If you discover bed bugs in your clothing or linen, wash the items in hot water and dry them in a clothes dryer.
• If you take care to inspect the areas where you stay and check your luggage before coming home to the residence facility, you will significantly reduce the chances of a bed bug infestation.

BED BUG OR IMPOSTER?

Don’t assume your bites are bed bugs. Bites can be hard to identify even for doctors. Rule out mosquitoes, fleas, mites, and biting gnats by conducting a visual inspection. It’s best to collect and identify bed bugs to confirm bites. Look for the bugs themselves or their bloodstains, especially along the seams of mattresses. Further, look for dark spots of insect waste where bedbugs might crawl into hiding places on furniture, walls, and floors.

BITE BACK AGAINST BED BUGS

Professional exterminators should get involved right off the bat. Call a professional right up front. The exterminator will locate the bed bugs (which may be found in more than one location) and exterminate as needed. Since the bugs often hide in small cracks, treatment can be difficult, making it worth hiring a pest control specialist like GreenTec Pest Control   (727) 847-6733.

 Please like and share us on Facebook. From all of us here at GreenTec Pest Control we hope everyone has a great 2019-2020 school year. Be safe and watch out for our kids walking, getting on or off the school bus.