There are two main types of bed bug. The most common bed bugs are the Common bed bug, found in dwellings, and the Martin bug, which normally lives in birds’ nests but can bite people. Common Bed bugs (picutred) are oval wingless insects, approximately 5mm long, with six legs and two antennae. They are red-brown in colour and flat in shape. Their colour turns to red/purple after a blood meal and they become more rounded in shape.
Where do they live?
Bed bugs hide themselves in mattresses, within bed frames, under bed bases, within bed headboards, behind loose wallpaper, within paintings, wall sockets, and telephones. Also behind wall partitioning, suspended ceilings, skirting boards, on clothing or furnishings, and anywhere with a dark crack/crevice/seam providing harbourage. They like to stay close together. With frequent feeding, adults can live for up to 18 months. They breed by laying eggs that usually hatch after about 10 to 20 days. The bugs then grow through a series of stages. At each stage they need to feed on blood, until they become adults after about nine to 18 weeks. A female can lay between 150 and 345 eggs in her life.
The presence of bedbugs in a room can be detected by the following:
- blood spotting on bedding
- brown excrement spots close to where they live and on bedding
- whitish/opaque un-hatched and hatched eggs
- in heavy infestations, a sweet almond smell is common
- bed bugs are not normally seen during the day
Bed bugs will not travel too far from their host, but can move into adjacent rooms via interconnecting ducting/spaces. They are most likely to be transferred from place to place via infested linen, clothing, furniture and other articles. In hotels and hostels, housekeeping staff can unknowingly transfer bed bugs around the premises on all of the items mentioned above and guests can take bed bugs with them from hotel to hotel and eventually to their own home.
Are they a health hazard?
Bed bugs are not known to carry disease. However, they feed on human blood, usually at night whilst people are asleep in their beds. They inject a fluid into their host to help get their blood meal. These bites cause irritation and itching. Some people are particularly sensitive to the bites and experience an allergy and inflammation, especially to the arms and shoulders. This can be quite severe and require medical attention.
How can I get rid of them?
High standards of hygiene and housekeeping ensure that the presence of bed bugs is revealed at an early stage. Bed bugs can thrive where hygiene standards are poor and housekeeping sloppy.
In hotels and hostels house-keeping staff should be trained to identify the signs of bed bug infestation and whilst cleaning rooms should be alert management to the possibility of infestation.
Infested bedding and furnishings should be laundered in a hot wash, and care should be taken not to aid dispersal of the infestation via laundry baskets. In severe cases, items of furniture will require removal and burning.
The control of Bed Bugs is very difficult, hiring a reputable pest control company like EnviroGuard to deal with a bed bug infestation, will give the best chance of complete control.
All Pesticides used in the control/treatment of insects pests are selective and applied to ensure public safety. Our Pest Control Technicians will also be pleased to give advice on the safety of animals where pesticides have been used.
For further details about bed bugs or to book a program of treatments, please enquire online or give us a call.