Among the most feared and misunderstood pest species known to science may be the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). What number of us dropped off to sleep in the evening as youngsters with the parting rhyme of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on human beings at around the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella largely fed on bats and it’s also a fair chance that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feast upon human blood when our forebears started dwelling in bat infested caves.
Before the production of DDT during the early twentieth century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most low quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies having very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap holiday homes and student accomadation etc.
Many people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after dining on the blood of humans.
Bed bugs typically nourish themselves on a target’s blood every week or so, coming out in the hours before dawn and locating their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and once closing in on their target, body heat.
In the absence of an appropriate human meal to dine on they might remain in a period of dormancy for periods of up to 18 months.
The first signs of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations growing across the earth, the easy use of world travel and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.
What is sure is that they are now making a real comeback not just in poor quality homes but top class hotels, schools and not to mention hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug bites problems yearly from 1995 to 2001.
One night stay in an infested bed is all it takes, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags.
Pest management businesses are also now reporting cases of transportation related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be sufficient to spread bed bugs to your own residence.
They are an expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both tricky and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on grossly over-weight people.
They are not a pest that can be tackled by a beginner and a pest control professional will, without doubt be called for.