One of the most hated and misunderstood pests known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as kids with the words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on man at about the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella largely fed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human beings when our forebears started sleeping} in bat infested caves.
Up to the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common guests in most slum quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies called out to very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being largely restricted to budget holiday hotels and student housing etc.
A lot of people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which most certainly can be seen.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs usually feed on our blood every few days, emerging in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by sniffing the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when nearby their target, the heat from the body of their intended target.
Without a suitable human host to feed on they can remain in a period of dormancy for periods of up to a year or more.
The first signs of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to bed bug bites.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug numbers growing across the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been blamed for the resurgence.
What is known 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 infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested bed is all it requires, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple trip to work on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to bring these bugs to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny suitably close to a sleeping target, 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 creases of flesh on grossly over-weight people.
They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
Phone Harrier Pest Control on 01772 837727