Appearance
The eggs of bed bugs are coated with a sticky substance which enables them to adhere to objects easily and are deposited in quantities from 10-50 in crevices of bed frames, floors, walls, and furntiure. Newly hatched bed bugs are nearly colorless and the size of a poppy seed. The nymphs begin to feed right away but can also stand long periods of time without a meal. The adult bed bug can reach 1/4 of an inch in length. They range in color from white, tan, deep brown, or reddish-orange. Bed bugs are very flat, oval in shape, and resemble the tick. They are almost transparent in appearance and the host's blood may be seen as a dark mass in the insects body after feeding.
What To Look For
Bed bug infestations can be recognized by bites that occur while sleeping. Bed bugs are nocturnal (and feed at night), but if hungry enough, they will emerge in the daytime to find a blood meal. Bed bugs have sharp beak like appendages that are used to pierce the skin of the host while feeding. By injecting a fluid into the skin, the host does not feel the insect biting. However, the fluid causes the skin to itch and raise to a welt after feeding is complete. Bed bugs feed from 3 to 5 minutes. Afterwards, they drop off the host and find a place to hide where they remain for several days living off the meal they just received. When hungry, bed bugs emerge from their hiding places and feed again. Other ways to recognize bed bug infestations is to carefully inspect the seams and tufts of mattresses and box springs, curtain pleats, base boards, behind wall paper, and dresser drawers. Often reddish-brown stains can be found on walls, mattresses and linnens. There may even be a pungent "buggy" odor in heavily infested places.
How To Treat
Bed bug treatment must be carefully planned out in order to fully eliminate infestations. Clutter must be reduced in order to limit the hiding places for bed bugs. Use a stiff brush to dislodge eggs, because the sticky substance used during egg laying hardens tightly onto objects making it difficult to remove. Remove furniture drawers and dismantle bed frames to expose hiding spots. Use a powerful vacuum to get rid of exposed bed bugs from the mattresses, box springs, headboards, cracks, and crevices around the room. Because bed bugs can travel from room to room through cracks in walls, ceilings, and floors, inspections should be made to adjacent rooms and floors of the dwelling. Caulk and seal all holes in walls where pipes and wires emerge as well as, seal all crevices around baseboards. After cleaning and/or exterminating, pull beds away from walls, coat the legs of the beds with petroleum jelly and keep bedding off of or away from the floor. Encase mattress with plastic dust covers and keep cover on for over a year. Bed bugs can easily survive months without eating and can live for long periods of time in vacant and clean apartments, hotels, and houses.
When travelling, luggage that is contaminated must be scrubbed with a stiff brush and thoroughly vacuumed. Clothing should be laundered using hot water immediately to avoid further infestations.
Exposing bed bugs to extreme heat or extreme cold will be an effective means of getting rid of them. Wrapping a mattress in plastic and exposing it to the outdoors in the summer or the extreme cold in the winter will eliminate bed bugs on the mattress. Bed bugs generally thrive in temperatures between 50-70 degrees.
Luggage left in a closed car in the full summer sun will also be an effective way of getting rid of bed bugs.
To ensure the complete elimination of bed bugs from your home or apartment, contact Brown's IPM. Professional exterminators like Brown's are the best form of treatment for bed bug infestations. Brown's will provide the most effective treatment options as well as prevent reinfestations. Contact Brown's Intergrated Pest Management for all of your pest control needs.
