Knowing You Have Bed Bugs
With bed bugs again making headlines and being on the news many people will be quick to assume that the bug they saw last night is a bed bug. This is not always true. The same way not every sneeze means swine flu not every insect is the nefarious Cimex Lectularius. A common problem in the battle against bed bugs is the misidentification of the insect in your home, apartment or office. Because bed bugs have a natural resistance to most modern day chemicals and gel pesticides exterminating the annoying critters can prove daunting. And when an exterminator comes to lay down a blanket of insect poison he may be killing off termites, cockroaches and fleas but the bed bugs will go about their business as if nothing happened.
Though very small, mostly nocturnal and maddeningly evasive bed bugs can be properly identified when you know what to look for. Because of their very nature insects are often grouped into one category; pests. Yet the insect world features a fascinating range of diversity, unique habits and traits and special characteristics. Your average person most likely won’t be able to differentiate a bed bug from a flea or a termite. But each is its own breed of insect and has to be treated accordingly to properly control the problem.
Bed bugs are very small (adults range in size between 4mm and 5mm), have a reddish-brown color with a flattened oval body and microscopic hairs that produce a banded appearance. Though you may find a solitary bed bug in your search more often than not you will find a group congregating in mattress seams, dark floorboard crevices and sofa cushion liners. Though bed bugs are elusive they are not so advanced that they don’t leave behind clues that they are around. Dried blood and excrement, shells of recently hatched eggs and even engorged adults full from a feeding are all evidence that bed bugs are in your home or building. Should you find what appears to be a dead or engorged bed bug use a cotton ball to scoop up the body, place it in a plastic bag and see for yourself if the insect is of the nasty bed bug family. If you’re still not sure have a pest control expert take a look to confirm the identity of the insect you have found.
Though bed bugs are annoying and creepy they do not pose much threat to humans. Even though they feed on human blood there is no evidence to suggest bed bugs carry and transmit dangerous diseases and even their bites are no more harmful or painful than your average mosquito bite. But many people have a natural fear of insects and the mere thought of a bug crawling over your body at night can cause insomnia, degrees of anxiety and depression and nightmares. Unfortunately most people won’t know they have bed bugs until one bites. If you awake in the morning and find small red track marks with minor swelling around a bite mark you should start your own inspection or at least call a pest control expert for a check of the house. Once you know for sure that bed bugs are in your room then you can take the proper steps to exterminating bed bugs.