Bed bugs, known scientifically as Cimex lectularius (Cimicidae) are small wingless insects that feed by hematophagy – exclusively on the blood of warm blooded-animals. As we are warm-blooded animals, we are ideal hosts for them.
Over millions of years, bed bugs have evolved as nest parasites – inhabiting the nests of birds and the roosts of bats. Some of them have learnt to adapt to the human environment and live in our nests, i.e. our homes, and more specifically, our beds. Newborns, called hatchlings or nymphs, are tiny, about the size of a poppy seed, while adults grow to about ¼ of an inch long. Their shape is oval and flattened. Both nymphs, eggs and adults are visible to the naked eye.
They are called bed bugs because of their preferred habitat in human homes: sofas, bed mattresses and other soft furnishings.
Bed bugs are seen as a growing problem within all types of dwellings, including private homes, dormitories, cruise ships, army barracks, and shelters.
When seen close up they may have a white, light tan to a deep brown or burnt orange color. Just after molting, most of them are plain white. When they have had their feed a dark red or black blob may be observed within their body. They will instinctively seek shelter in dark cracks and crevices when disturbed.
Fast facts on bed bugs
Here are some key points about bed bugs.
Bed bugs are small wingless insects that feed on the blood of warm blooded-animals.
As humans, we are ideal hosts for bed bugs.
Bed bugs are so called because of their preferred habitat in human homes: sofas, bed mattresses, etc.
Most bed bugs feed on their hosts while they are asleep.
Peak time for feeding is about one hour before sunrise.
Feeding takes about five minutes, after which the bug returns to its hiding place.
A female bed bug lays approximately 5 eggs in one day and about 500 during her lifetime.
Bites can take up to nine days to become visible. Unlike flea bites, bed bug bites don’t have a red dot in the center.
Bed bugs tend to bite in rows. You will likely see two or three bites all in a row.
Bed bugs are not easy to eradicate.
It is advisable to hire a professional in pest control.
Spotting signs of bed bugs
The biggest sign of bed bugs is people complaining of bites that occurred while they were asleep. If this happens, you should examine the bedrooms for bed bugs and signs of bed bug activity. Look carefully into the creases in the bed linen, and seams and tufts of mattresses and box springs for bugs or eggs. The eggs will look like tiny pale poppy seeds.
Signs of bed bug activity may exist beneath loose areas of wallpaper near beds, in the corner of desks and dressers, in the laundry, and in drawers.
Look out for dark brown or reddish fecal spots (bed bug droppings, excrement). If the area is very infested you may sense a coriander-like odor. The excrement is a liquid that looks either light brown or black that can either bead up or be absorbed by the material around it.
Dogs can be trained to sniff out live bed bugs or past infestations. A dog’s sense of smell is so acute that it can pick up the scent of a single bed bug.
How dangerous are bed bugs to humans?
Most bed bugs feed on their hosts while they are asleep. The host supplies them with blood in a painless way, never knowing it is happening. While feeding they inject a small amount of saliva into the host’s skin. The more they feed on one particular host, say human, over a period of several weeks, the more sensitized that human becomes to their saliva. Until eventually the host develops a mild to intense allergic response.
People who have become sensitive to bed bug bites – their saliva – have lesions similar to mosquito or flea bites. Most humans will think they have been bitten by some insect, such as a mosquito, and never realize who the true culprit was.
The common bed bug, (Cimex lectularius) has adapted well to human environments. It is found in temperate climates. Cimex hemipterus is more common in tropical regions and has mainly poultry and bats as its host. Leptocimex boueti found mainly in South America, and West Africa feeds chiefly on humans and bats. Haematosiphon inodora, of North America, feeds primarily on poultry.
How do bed bugs feed?
The most active time for a bed bug is about one hour before sunrise – the peak time for feeding. However, they will try to feed at any time of day or night if they are hungry enough, and if the opportunity is there. They prefer nighttime and hate sunlight.
They will reach their host either by crawling straight towards them, or climbing a wall and then across the ceiling until they feel a heat wave – when they jump down onto their host. The bug is attracted to the host by both its warmth and the presence of C02 (carbon dioxide).
It pierces the skin of its host with two hollow tubes. One tube injects saliva which contains anesthetics, so that the host feels nothing, and anticoagulants, so that the blood flows out freely. The other tube sucks the blood in.
Feeding takes about five minutes, after which the bug returns to its hiding place. Bites are not noticeable by the host until at least a few minutes or some hours afterwards. Hosts, for example humans, will be aware of a bite after scratching it. Often bites may not be noticeable for several days.
Bed bugs will feed every five to ten days. They can, however, last for several months without feeding. If there is no food around they can become dormant for over a year. A well fed bed bug has a lifespan of about six to nine months.
How do bed bugs reproduce?
Bed bugs reproduce by traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination. The males have hypodermic genitalia, which pierce the females anywhere on their abdomen and ejaculate sperm into the body cavity. The sperm diffuse through the insides and reach the ovaries, resulting in fertilization.
A female bed bug lays approximately 5 eggs in one day and about 500 during her lifetime. Eggs are about 1 mm long and are visible to the naked eye. They have a milky-white tinge.
The eggs take about two weeks to hatch. The nymphs (baby bed bugs) start feeding as soon as they hatch and pass through five molting stages before reaching maturity. During each molting stage, they need to feed once. It takes about five weeks to reach maturity at a room-temperature environment.
Bed bugs can only reproduce when they have reached maturity.
Your house
Bed bugs may get into a new home as stowaways when luggage, furniture and bedding is moved into a new home – especially in the case of second-hand furniture. Perhaps we should be careful when purchasing second hand furniture at knock-down prices – a careful visual inspection should result in detecting them, if any are present.
Even vacant and seemingly clean homes may have bed bugs in them – they can survive for many months without any food. They can also move from apartment to apartment through hollows in walls and holes and tubes that wires and pipes go through.
A bat or bird that flies into the home could introduce bed bugs, and some other bugs as well.
What happens when I get bitten?
When you are bitten a raised red bump of flat welt (also called a papule or a wheal) will appear, often accompanied by very intense itching. The anesthetic contained in the bed bugs saliva causes an allergic reaction which results in the red bumps. They look very similar to mosquito bites, but last a lot longer. Signs and symptoms of bug bites will only affect the surface of the skin.
Bites can sometimes take up to nine days to become visible. Unlike flea bites, bed bug bites do not usually have a red dot in the center.
Bed bugs, like fleas, tend to bite in rows. There are likely to be two or three bites all in a row. This is probably because the bed bug is disturbed while feeding, and then comes back about half an inch further down for its next bite, or perhaps it had been trying to find a good vein, and needed several attempts.
About 50% of people who are bitten show no symptoms at all and do not know it happened. This makes it more difficult to prevent or identify potential infestations. Some individuals, however, may become ill and nauseous. It is possible get skin infections and scars from scratching the bites.
When people know they have an infestation of bed bugs in their house they tend to become alarmed. Research, however, indicates that bed bugs do not transmit disease, even though they do bite and take blood. Infections will occur, as a result, of scratching, and not from a pathogen passed on from the bug.
Very rarely, some people may have an anaphylactic reaction to bed bug bites. It is possible to have an asthmatic reaction when they shed skin as they grow and die, but cases are very rare.
Treatment of bites
Most bites resolve within one to two weeks. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms, and include:
Applying a topical cream, such as cortisone to relieve itching
Avoid scratching as this can cause infection
If infection does occur an oral antibiotic may be prescribed
If there is a severe allergic reaction oral corticosteroids may be prescribed
Antihistamines may also help relieve allergic reactions.
As soon as the symptoms are treated it will be necessary deal with the infestation (see below Controlling infestations of bed bugs).
Controlling an infestation
Since they can hide in so many places, they are not easy to eradicate. Unless you have a lot of time at your disposal, and limitless patience, it is advisable to get a professional in pest control. Experts know where to look for them, as well as how to get rid of them.
You can help the pest control professional by removing excess clutter from your house. If your stuff is strewn about rooms the bed bugs will have many extra places to hide, making inspection and eradication that much more difficult.
Some pest control companies may ask you to move furniture away from walls, and mattresses and box springs stood on edge before they come in, while others prefer everything to be left where it is so that they can check before moving them themselves.
If you live in an apartment or a house that adjoins another one, it may be necessary to inspect adjoining dwellings too. Bed bugs can easily disperse throughout a building.
The EPA suggests; “prevention and non-chemical treatment of infestations is the best way to avoid or eliminate a bed-bug problem.”
Bed-Bug-Rid kills bed-bugs, larvae, eggs and most indoor and outdoor bugs. Bed-Bug-Rid is an effective, 100% natural, non-toxic, environmentally-friendly treatment that exterminates bed-bugs without the use of pesticides.It’s available at Home Depot.
Encasing your bed
You could encase both the mattress and box spring in a proactive cover, as some people do for allergy relief. Some pest control firms sell them, as do a number of retail outlets.
As soon as you have encased it and zipped it shut, any bed bug trapped inside will eventually die – as long as you do not unzip it. Some people keep their new beds encased as it prevents the bugs from getting into the mattress and crevices and makes it easier to keep the surface clean and bug free. It is important to remember that encasements do not stop bed bugs from crawling onto them.
Bed bugs – video
This video by National Geographic gives a glimpse into the life of a bed bug.
ATLANTA – Chicago tops Orkin’s list of Top 50 Bed Bug Cities for the fourth year in a row. The list ranks cities by the number of bed bug treatments Orkin serviced from January through December 2015 and after an Orkin inspection verified bed bugs were present. The list includes both residential and commercial treatments.
This is the first year Orlando has ranked on Orkin’s Bed Bug Cities List, and Philadelphia is on the list for the first time since 2011. Fourteen cities in the Midwest – more than any other region – are included in the ranking, including multiple cities in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.
Six cities made double-digit jumps on Orkin’s Bed Bug Cities List compared to 2014, including Washington, D.C., which jumped to third on the list. Several cities also dropped significantly in the past year, including Dayton, Ohio, Louisville, Ky. and Sacramento, Calif.
32. Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Crk., Mich. (-12)
33. Lexington, Ky. (-9)
34. Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (+3)
35. Charleston-Huntington, W.Va. (-16)
36. Omaha, Neb. (-15)
37. San Diego (+2)
38. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.
39. Louisville, Ky. (-17)
40. St. Louis (+6)
41. Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque, Iowa (-6)
42. Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill. (-4)
43. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (-10)
44. Kansas City, Mo. (-3)
45. Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif. (-18)
46. Syracuse, N.Y. (-18)
47. Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo. (-3)
48. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. (-5)
49. Honolulu (-7)
50. Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C. (-5)
“Bed bugs are the great hitchhiker of the bug world, and they are very difficult to control without professional help,” said Orkin Entomologist and Technical Services Director Ron Harrison, Ph.D. “Bed bugs can travel in luggage and other personal belongings to enter your home,” Harrison said, adding, “They don’t just hide in beds – they can be found in furniture, bed posts, rugs and even electrical outlets.”
Other than “flight delay” or “LaGuardia Airport,” there might not be a two words that make travelers more uncomfortable than “bed bugs.” So prepare to be creeped out, because reports of bed bugs in New York City’s hotels have increased more than 44% since this time last year — even at some of the city’s most expensive, five-star properties.
According to the Bedbug Registry, a database that records bed bug-related complaints and sightings, the nasty little insects have been seen (or felt) in 176 of the 272 hotels that are members of the Hotel Association of New York City. The New York Daily News reports that guests had even complained of bed bugs in the glitzy rooms at the Waldorf Astoria, the Millennium Hilton and the New York Marriott Marquis (we like to picture those bed bugs driving tiny Bentleys right into the mattress folds).
Even one guest complaint places a property on the Bedbug Registry, but 18 hotels combined for 363 complaints, making up 42% of all of the bed bug sightings in the city. That is beyond bad news for those hotels; according to a study conducted by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, just one mention of bed bugs in an online hotel review could lower the value of a room by $38 for business travelers and $23 for leisure travelers.
Lisa Linden, a spokesperson for the Hotel Association, told the Daily News:
“Bedbugs are a global issue that extend beyond hotels. Every member of the Hotel Association of NYC that we are aware of has an active anti-bedbug program in place. If a problem arises, it is dealt with immediately and effectively.”
So what can you do if you’re heading to New York in the near future (other than start clawing at your own skin immediately)? A pest control expert told CBS2 that guests should pull back the sheets to examine the mattress for bed bugs and place their suitcases on luggage racks or in the bathtub to keep any disgusting stowaways from climbing into their bags. It also probably pays to educate yourself on what bed bugs do and do not look like, to prevent you from freaking yourself — or other guests — out unnecessarily. Those University of Kentucky researchers also discovered that 2/3 of study participants couldn’t tell a bed bug from other household insects.
Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color.
Bedbugs do not fly, but they can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime.
Immature bedbugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Under favorable conditions the bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year.
Although they are a nuisance, they do not transmit diseases.
Where Bed Bugs Hide
Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds and couches, and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces, about the width of a credit card. Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night.
Over time, however, they may scatter through the bedroom, moving into any crevice or protected location. They may also spread to nearby rooms or apartments.
Because bedbugs live solely on blood, having them in your home is not a sign of dirtiness. You are as likely to find them in immaculate homes and hotel rooms as in filthy ones.
When Bedbugs Bite
Bedbugs are active mainly at night and usually bite people while they are sleeping. They feed by piercing the skin and withdrawing blood through an elongated beak. The bugs feed from three to 10 minutes to become engorged and then crawl away unnoticed.
Most bedbug bites are painless at first, but later turn into itchy welts. Unlike flea bites that are mainly around the ankles, bedbug bites are on any area of skin exposed while sleeping. Also, the bites do not have a red spot in the center like flea bites do.
People who don’t realize they have a bedbug infestation may attribute the itching and welts to other causes, such as mosquitoes. To confirm bedbug bites, you must find and identify the bugs themselves.
Signs of Infestation
If you wake up with itchy areas you didn’t have when you went to sleep, you may have bedbugs, particularly if you got a used bed or other used furniture around the time the bites started. Other signs that you have bedbugs include:
Blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases
Dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls
Bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide
An offensive, musty odor from the bugs’ scent glands
If you suspect an infestation, remove all bedding and check it carefully for signs of the bugs or their excrement. Remove the dust cover over the bottom of the box springs and examine the seams in the wood framing. Peel back the fabric where it is stapled to the wood frame.
Also, check the area around the bed, including inside books, telephones or radios, the edge of the carpet, and even in electrical outlets. Check your closet, because bedbugs can attach to clothing. If you are uncertain about signs of bedbugs, call an exterminator, who will know what to look for.
If you find signs of infestation, begin steps to get rid of the bugs and prevent their return.
Bedbug Treatments
Getting rid of bedbugs begins with cleaning up the places where bedbugs live. This should include the following:
Clean bedding, linens, curtains, and clothing in hot water and dry them on the highest dryer setting. Place stuffed animals, shoes, and other items that can’t be washed in the dryer and run on high for 30 minutes.
Use a stiff brush to scrub mattress seams to remove bedbugs and their eggs before vacuuming.
Vacuum your bed and surrounding area frequently. After vacuuming, immediately place the vacuum cleaner bag in a plastic bag and place in garbage can outdoors.
Encase mattress and box springs with a tightly woven, zippered cover to keep bedbugs from entering or escaping. Bedbugs may live up to a year without feeding, so keep the cover on your mattress for at least a year to make sure all bugs in the mattress are dead.
Repair cracks in plaster and glue down peeling wallpaper to get rid of places bedbugs can hide.
Get rid of clutter around the bed.
Spray around the bed and in cracks with non-toxic, 100% natural Bed Bug Rid which is found at Home Depot.
If your mattress is infested, you may want to get rid of it and get a new one, but take care to rid the rest of your home of bedbugs or they will infest your new mattress.
Bedbug Extermination
While cleaning up infested areas will be helpful in controlling bedbugs, getting rid of them usually requires chemical treatments. Because treating your bed and bedroom with insecticides can be harmful, it is important to use products that can be used safely in bedrooms like Bed Bug Rid. Do not treat mattresses and bedding unless the label specifically says you can use them on bedding.
SOURCES:
WebMD Medical Reference
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture: “Bed Bugs.”
Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet: “Bed Bugs.”
The New York City Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene: “Stop Bed Bugs Safely.”
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Lancaster County: “Managing Bed Bugs.”
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/bedbugs-infestation?page=3