One of the most feared and least understood pest insect 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 dine on human beings at around the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human beings when our ancestors started sleeping} in bat infested caves.
Up to the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most poor quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to cheap holiday hotels and student housing etc.
Many people confuse dust mites, which cannot be seen by the naked, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on human blood every week or so, coming out in the hours before dawn and finding their target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when close to their target, the heat from the body of their intended target.
Lacking a suitable human meal to feed on they can remain dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Bed Bugs
Often the first sign of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on sheets and on the corners of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug numbers explode everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been argued as reasons for the resurgence.
What is positive is that that are now making a real resurgence not only in poor quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reported a doubling of bed bugs reports 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 transport of all kinds so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to bring bed bugs to your own home.
They are an difficult pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny suitably close to a sleeping human being, 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 creases of flesh on very overweight people.
They are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
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