One of the most feared and misunderstood pests known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as young ones with the parting rhyme of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs most probably started to predate on human beings at about the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella largely fed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on man when our ancestors started sleeping} in bat infested caves.
Before the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in most slum quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest controllers called out to very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to budget holiday camps and student accomadation etc.
Most people mistake dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which most certainly can be seen.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and very swollen after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs usually feed on a target’s blood every week or so, coming out in the early hours of the morning and finding their target by smelling the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close to their target, they sense infra red heat.
Without a suitable human meal to feed on they can lie dormant for periods of up to a year or more.
Bed Bug Bites
Often the first sign of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the base of mattresses and many people can react badly to the bites of these bugs.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations expoding everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the resurgence.
What is sure is that that are now making a real comeback not only in lower quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested premises is all it takes, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on transport of all kinds so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They hide in any nook and cranny anywhere close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both tricky and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on very overweight people.
They are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
Telephone Harrier Pest Prevention on 0161 930 8814