Frequently Asked Questions About Bed Bugs
Adults are small, brownish insects, just under a ¼” long and are relatively flat. They are nearly as wide as they are long, and oval in shape. Immature bed bugs (nymphs) resemble the adults, but are much smaller and lighter in color. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent and are no bigger than a pinhead (1 mm).
Bedbugs do not like heat. They therefore do not stick in hair or on skin, like lice or ticks, and prefer not to remain in our clothes close to our bodily heat. Bedbugs are more likely to travel on backpacks, luggage, shoes and other items farther removed from our bodies.
Bed bugs will not go away on their own. We use a combination of reduced risk pesticides and heat to eliminate bed bugs.
It's unlikely that a bed bug would travel on you or the clothes you are wearing. You move too much to be a good hiding place. Bed bugs are more likely to be spread via luggage, backpacks, briefcases, mattresses, and used furniture.
You should be able to see adult bedbugs, nymphs and eggs with your naked eye. Bedbugs are not attracted to dirt and grime; they are attracted to warmth, blood and carbon dioxide. However, clutter offers more hiding spots.
No. Bed bugs cannot fly. They "travel" by hitching a ride on people's belongings when they are set down in infested areas, then moving with them to a new location to start a new infestation.
Although no one is completely sure why bed bugs reappeared in such numbers beginning in the 1990s, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suspects that the resurgence is associated with increased resistance of bed bugs to available pesticides; greater international and domestic travel; lack of knowledge regarding control of bed bugs due to their prolonged absence; the continuing decline or elimination of effective vector/pest control programs at state and local public health agencies.
No. Although a bed bug bite can be itchy and irritating, theses bugs are not known to spread disease.
Yes. As nocturnal insects, bed bugs are most active at night. However, they will also move around during the day, and if they need to feed and a person is nearby, the bug is as likely to bite during the day as a night.
Bed bugs will bite multiple times, and even before biting will "test" several areas to find the best source of blood. Thus, the bites often appear in a line or cluster near one another. The bit area may also become inflamed and itchy due to an allergic reaction to the bed bug saliva.
No, bed bugs can live in upholstered furniture, behind headboards, baseboards, and even pictures on the wall. In fact, second-hand furniture should always be thoroughly inspected and/or serviced for bed bugs before bringing it into your home.
Bed bugs need blood meals in order to develop and live. They are attracted to humans by the carbon dioxide we breathe and the warmth we put off. When we are in bed sleeping, we are an easy target – less likely to feel the tiny bugs on our skin and brush them off. And once they finish feeding, bed mattresses have plenty of hidden places for the little bugs to hide and procreate.
Signs of bed bug presence include live or dead bugs, shed skins, and blood spots on mattress or bed linen are signs of a bed bug infestation. Bites leave small welts, similar to that of a mosquito, on exposed skin.
No. Bed bugs do not discriminate between dirty and clean homes, rich or poor, young or old. If they are carried into your home, they will seek out a place to hide and begin to breed. However, having a clean home will provide fewer places for bed bugs to hide, thus making service easier should you get an infestation.
Leaving bed bugs untreated will exacerbate the problem, as infestations do not die out on their own. ... Bed bug bites usually leave red marks, similar to mosquito bites, that last between one to two weeks. The bites can lead to itching, resulting in breaking the skin, which can also lead to secondary infections.
They can harbor on the foam, in the seams of the mattress cover or in the bed frame. Remember the mattress itself is not the bed bug attractant, the host that uses it is. So bed bugs do not have to live inside the mattress in order to feed on you at night.
Bed bugs do not fly since they do not have wings. They are able to crawl and rapidly move short distances within an infected area, and slowly spread to other rooms in the home or business. ... In fact, these traveling methods are the number one way people introduce bed bugs into their homes
You don't feel their stealthy bite because they inject a numbing agent into your body, along with an anticoagulant to keep your blood flowing as they suck. The first sign of bedbugs may be itchy, red bites on the skin, usually on the arms or shoulders. Bedbugs tend to leave straight rows of bites.
During the daytime, they prefer to hide close to where people sleep. Their flattened bodies enable them to fit into tiny crevices--especially those associated with mattresses, box springs, bed frames and headboards. Bed bugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but do tend to congregate in habitual hiding places.
Every day, bed bugs can lay between one and 12 eggs, and anywhere from 200 and 500 eggs in a lifetime. ... Bed bugs need to take blood meals from warm-blooded hosts — typically humans — to survive, and they'll hide near their sources until ready to feed.