One of the most reviled and least understood pests 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 feed on man at around the period we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella mostly fed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on man when our ancestors started living} in bat infested caves.
Until the production 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 operatives dealing with very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being generally restricted to cheap holiday homes and student housing etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which most certainly can be seen.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on a target’s blood every few days, coming out 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 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 Bugs
The first signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on sheets and on the edges 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 numbers expoding across the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.
What is sure is that that are now making a real comeback not only in poor quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reported a doubling of bed bugs infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
One night away in an infested premises is all it requires, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Stretford Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple ride home on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an difficult pest to deal with as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny anywhere close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on very fat people.
They are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
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