Bed Bugs have become a reality for an increasing number of Americans. If you have ever experienced bed bugs, you may be embarrassed and frustrated, but it’s not your fault. Bed bugs can appear in anyone’s home. Bed Bugs can be brought back home after camping, traveling, in packages, etc. or they can come in from the outdoors on their own. After bed bugs arrive, they survive by feeding on any warm blooded animal. That includes your kids, your pets, and you. Bed Bugs are more active at night, especially when you’re sleeping. It is in the middle of the night, when you are unable to defend yourself, when bed bugs crawl into your bed and bite you.
Bed bugs are small wingless insects that are nest parasites. Certain kinds inhabit bird nests and bat roosts and await the return of their hosts; others have adapted well to living in the homes of people. They readily survive for many months without feeding, so may be already in a “clean” house or apartment that has been vacant for awhile. They can also wander between adjoining apartments through voids in walls and holes though which wires and pipes pass.
When bedbugs feed regularly, they live about ten months; those that don’t can live more than a year without feeding. They easily live to see three generations. Females lay 3-8 eggs at a time; 300-500 can be produced by one female in her lifetime. The tiny eggs are about 1/25" long and curved; they are laid in clusters and attached to cracks or rough surfaces with a sticky film. Eggs hatch in about 12 days. The new nymph is clear until it gets its first blood meal. After 5 nymph stages that last 32-48 days, the bed bug is mature.
Hatchling bed bugs are about the size of a poppy seed, and adults are about 1/4 of an inch in length. Looking from above they are an oval in shape, but are flattened from top to bottom when viewing them from the side. Their color ranges from nearly white (just after molting) or a light tan to a deep brown or burnt orange. The host’s blood may appear as a dark red or black mass within the bug’s body. Because they never develop wings, bed bugs cannot fly. When disturbed, bed bugs actively seek shelter in dark cracks and crevices.
Repeated exposures to bed bug bites during a period of several weeks or more causes people to become sensitized to the saliva of these bugs; additional bites may then result in mild to intense allergic responses. The skin lesion produced by the bite of a Bed Bug resembles those caused by many other kinds of blood feeding insects, such as mosquitoes and fleas.
To get rid of the infestation, the key is to clean, steam (if possible) and use the products listed below. Obviously, get rid of all mattresses that are severely infested. Redo it again in two weeks. For stubborn infestations, it may take three times to rid your home of them.
Click on the Bed Bug control products below for more info and ordering.
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