Having a Bed bug infestation can be a nightmare, and can be relatively easy to catch. The primary location where they spread is a hotel/motel room. Most often living in the bed and then taking a trip back with you in your clothes/luggage.
Bed Bugs are not linked to poor sanitation, and can survive up to 113 Degrees farenheit. Treating them can be a difficult excercise.
What are Bedbugs?
- Common Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) are small, flat red-brown insects. The adults reach 3-5 mm in length.
- They have a small head and large, oval shaped body. They do not have any wings, but the legs are well developed.
- There is no larval stage. The young hatch from small, elongated white eggs as ‘mini-adults’. The nymph will develop through five stages to an adult.
- Bedbugs are tough and resilient insects. An adult can forego a meal for up to a year under ideal conditions.
- Bedbugs are excellent climbers and will live inside small cracks and crevices nearby to their feeding areas. They can be found in all parts of a bed/matteress, and in any gaps or crevices up to several feet from their feeding area in places such as the furniture, wallpaper, skirting boards and carpets.
- Unlike fleas, the young will immediately feed on the blood of the host (human), by biting the host at night whilst the host is sleeping.
- The bites will usually concentrate around the upper torso and arms of the host.
What problems do bedbugs cause?
- Bedbug bites appear as hard whitish swellings, concentrated around the upper torso and arms of the host. The bites can be painful and sore, causing local irritation and secondary infections if scratched.
- The bites are often unsightly, and bloodstains can often be found on the sheets of a bed in the morning due to biting by the insect.
- Dark speckled spots (excrement), blood and an unpleasant almond smell can also result from the activities of the bedbug.
How are Bedbugs controlled?
- Control of bedbugs usually requires a combination of methods.
- A thorough ‘fingertip search’ for the bedbugs should be undertaken in all areas of the room where biting has occurred.
- All linen from the bed is usually removed and put in a hot wash to remove any eggs, nymphs (baby bedbugs) and adults.
- Once located the bedbugs should be removed or killed using an insecticidal spray or dust.
- A detailed monitoring of the area is then usually undertaken to observe for any further bedbug activity. This is required because bedbug infestations can be very persistent.
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