One of the most detested and misunderstood pest species known to civilisation is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as young ones with the parting rhyme 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 about the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella mostly fed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on man when our forebears started living} in bat infested caves.
Up to the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in most low quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest controllers dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to budget holiday hotels and student lodgings etc.
Most people mistake dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which most certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and engorged after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs regularly feed on human blood every week or so, appearing in the hours before dawn and finding their target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when nearby their target, they sense infra red heat.
Lacking a suitable human meal to feed on they can stay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Often the first sign of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug reports growing everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of world travel 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 slum quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug problems every year from 1995 to 2001.
One night stay in an infested premises is all it requires, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Stretford Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple trip home on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring the infestation to your own home.
They are an tricky pest to eradicate as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They hide in any nook and cranny suitably close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on very overweight people.
They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
Phone us on 0161 930 8814
Comments on this entry are closed.