One of the most reviled and least understood pest insect species known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as kids with the words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on people at about the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella largely fed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on man when our ancestors started staying in bat infested caves.
Up to the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace guests in most slum quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest operatives having very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being mostly restricted to low quality holiday camps and student accomadation etc.
A lot of people mistake dust mites, which cannot be seen by the unaided eye, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on our blood every week or so, emerging in the early hours of the morning and locating their target by sniffing the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when close to their target, they sense body heat.
Lacking a suitable human meal to feed on they can lay in a period of dormancy for periods of up to a year or more.
Signs of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and many people can react badly to bed bug bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug numbers explode across the planet, the easy availability of overseas and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.
What is certain is that that are now making a real fightback not only in slum quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night away in an infested bed is all it needs, 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 home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to bring these bugs to your own home.
They are an tricky pest to deal with as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They hide in any nook and cranny suitably 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 grossly over-weight people.
They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Phone Harrier Pest Control on 0800 019 8382
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