Bed bugs are small, elusive, non-flying parasitic insects that belong to the Cimicidae insect family. Bed bugs feed by sucking blood from humans and other warm-blooded animals including birds. They’re called bed bugs because they are nocturnal insects that come out at night and feed on the blood of ususpecting people while they are asleep in their beds. Their bites can cause anything from no reaction to extremely itchy blisters on the skin. The fact that not everyone reacts to bed bug bites the same is one of the reasons they have been successful at propagating.
Adult bed bugs reach 5–7 mm in length and are 1.5–3 mm wide (about the size of an apple seed), with a small head and larger oval-shaped body. Bed bugs have flat bodies and may be mistaken for ticks or small cockroaches. Adult bed bugs are reddish brown in color, appearing more reddish after engorging on blood. Newly hatched bed bug nymphs are very tiny, being only 1mm in length (about the size of the letters on a penny). Nymphs appear clear or cream colored before feeding and then look bright red after feeding. You may also find cast skins, which are empty shells of bed bugs as they grow from one stage to the next.
Unfortunately, visual inspection by trained professionals has been found to be only 30% effective at finding every last bed bug and, to the untrained person, it requires a significant infestation before visible signs appear. Signs of bed bugs may include bite symptoms and small blood smears on bed sheets. Bed bugs have glands whose secretions can have a slight sweet smell, and they also may leave dark fecal spots on bed sheets and around their hiding places (in crevices or protected areas around the bed or anywhere in the room). Small translucent bed bug eggs may be observed in tucks and folds of the mattress and box spring, behind headboards, along baseboards and any other location where bed bugs are hiding and breeding. If you suspect an infestation, call a Pest Control Professional immediately and ask them if they have technologies to detect such as canin sent detection or ongoing monitoring systems. Most multiunit facilities are best served by ongoing proactive inspection and monitoring programs to stop infestations before they start.
Bed bugs can bite any exposed areas of skin while an individual is sleeping, but normally bite in a linear pattern where the skin meets the bed. They feed for 2-5 minutes until full. If the person moves before they finish feeding, they scatter and then reinsert for their blood meal. After complete engorgement they move quickly away from the person and back into their harborage sites. The face, neck, hands, and arms are common locations for bed bug bites. The bite itself is painless and is not noticed due to their anesthetic saliva. All people are not equally sensitive to bed bug bites, so while some victims break out in rashes from the bites, other people may not display any symptoms. Typically small, flat, or raised bumps on the skin are the most common sign; redness, swelling, and itching commonly occur. If scratched, the bite areas can become infected with serious issues like MRSA. A peculiarity of bed bug bites is the tendency to find several bites lined up in a row. Infectious disease specialists refer to this as the "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" sign signifying sequential feeding. Bed bugs have not been conclusively proven to carry infectious microbes. However, the medical community is concerned due to the fact that any blood feeding insect could potentially mutate to find a symbiotic relationship with a microbe at any time.
Bed bugs have been found in every space inside of a structure. About 70% of bed bug infestations are associated with the bed, or in the furniture, pictures and baseboards next to the bed. This leaves 30% to be everywhere else. Bed bugs hide in cracks, folds, tucks and voids in and around these areas including curtains, edges of carpet, corners inside dressers, cracks in wallpaper and inside the spaces of furniture. The second most common bed bug harborage is upholstered furniture, while a small percentage of any bed bug population may be scattered throughout a room or building. Bed bugs are found within sleeping areas of all kinds, including homes, apartments, hotels/motels, cruise ships, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories and homeless shelters. They can also be a problem in any public area such as office buildings, laundries, furniture and retail stores, movie theatres, restaurants, schools, libraries, churches, public transportation…..the list goes on and on.
Bed bugs can live in any articles of furniture, clothing, or bedding, so they or their eggs may be present in used furniture or clothing. They spread by crawling and may contaminate multiple rooms in a home or even multiple dwellings in apartment buildings. They have been found to migrate for blood meals through HVAC ducts, walls and hallways. They may also be present in boxes, suitcases, or other goods that are moved from residence to residence or from a hotel to home. Bed bugs can live on clothing from infested homes and may be spread by a person unknowingly wearing infested clothing or carrying a bed bug in a purse.
Bed bugs are typically active at night and hide during the day. After mating, females lay white, oval eggs (1.5 mm long) into cracks and crevices. An individual bed bug can lay 100-400 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in about 6-10 days and the newly emerged bed bug nymphs seek a blood meal almost immediately. Immature nymphs molt five times (they shed their outer exoskeleton in order to grow) before reaching adulthood. They need a blood meal at least once before each molt. All ages are found in a reproducing population. Immature bed bugs may live for several months without feeding while adults may survive as long as one year without a meal. Under normal circumstances, adult bed bugs will live for about a year.
Once a common problem in homes and businesses, bed bugs largely disappeared from the U.S. when modern insecticides were introduced after WWII. Since the late 1990s, bed bugs have come back strongly and growing infestations have been found across the country. The reasons for this resurgence have been described as a “Perfect Storm”. Factors such as increased travel, tenant under-reporting, misidentification, and a general lack of solid industry expertise about this complex pest have likely contributed to the rapid spread of infestations. However, the most clearly identified reason is the evolution of the bed bug to be resistant to common pesticides. The EPA has stated clearly that the use of pesticides has not only been ineffective but has exacerbated the problem. Vigilant proactive inspections and the use of effective treatment strategies for active infestations are the only way to get this pest under control.
Check the mattress, headboard, frame and pictures for signs of bed bugs.
Ask the hotel personnel at time of reservation and prior to going to your room, what their inspection process for Bed Bugs is? If they act like they don’t know what you mean, leave.
Hang clothes that can be hung and avoid storing any clothes in dressers.
Check travel reviews and only stay at highly rated hotels. This is not foolproof, but normally well run hotels are better at all things, including proactive inspection and treatment.
Follow the tips to avoid picking up bed bugs in hotels.
Purchase a PackTite™ to heat treat your luggage after arriving home or you can use a plastic bag and a hair dryer if you are looking for a low cost solution.
Avoid used furniture and items left on the curb (Assume all used furniture is infested)
Live clutter free – clutter is a great hiding place for bed bugs and increases the challenges associated with inspection and treatment.
Consider using fitted bed bug-proof encasements for your mattress and box springs. (Although encasements do not prevent bed bugs, they make infestations easier to detect)
Ask for a comprehensive protection plan that covers bed bugs for your personal residence.
Due to the fact that a single live female or a single egg left alive to hatch after treatment is a complete treatment failure, only comprehensive treatment programs have proven effective. Heat Treatment and/or Complete Structural Fumigation are the most effective way to eradicate bed bugs. Localized treatment strategies are costly and ineffective against this pest. The reality is that any localized treatment process for active infestations like pesticides, Cold blast or CryoBlast, steam, vacuuming, etc. are ineffective because they don’t kill the bugs you can’t see. We don’t have and have never had a significant problem killing bed bugs we can see, only those we can’t see. They can be anywhere in a structure and anywhere in the contents of that structure. Pesticides have taken significant criticism over the past year as misuse and overuse has created resistant populations of bed bugs. The EPA’s site on bed bugs claims that they have actually worsened the problem.
Due to the complexities, costs and safety concerns of Structural Fumigation, the most widely used and most successful strategy is the professional application of heat to the entire area or building to safely, quickly, and effectively eradicate 100% of the bed bugs in active infestation.
Only work with a professional bed bug company and always get a protection guarantee. Bed bugs are extremely difficult to control and eliminate. Many pest control companies will not even attempt to treat your bed bug problem. You should only work with an experienced bed bug professional like RxProtect, who offer a proven, comprehensive program for dealing with existing or potential bed bug problems. RxProtect offers a one of a kind, comprehensive bed bug protection plan that comes with the strongest guarantee in the industry. Although there is no way to guarantee you won’t bring bed bugs into your facility, RxProtect will create a plan so you can proactively and preventively address the issue.
