Bed Bug infestations in Warrington, Knutsford and Lymm, in 2010
One of the most hated and misunderstood pests known to civilisation is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as young ones with the parting words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs may have started to feed on human beings at around the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella largely feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human beings when our ancestors started sleeping} in bat infested caves.
Before the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most slum quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest controllers dealing with very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely restricted to low quality holiday hotels and student housing etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which cannot be seen by the naked, with bed bugs which most certainly can be seen.
Adult bedbugs are reddish in colour, about a quarter of an inch in size and engorged after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs regularly feed on human blood every few days, appearing in the early hours of the morning and finding their target by smelling the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when nearby their target, they sense body body heat.
In the absence of a suitable human host to dine on they can lay in a period of dormancy for periods of up to a year or more.
Signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bedding and on the edges of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug infestations growing everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.
What is positive is that that are now making a real resurgence not only in slum quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested hotel is all it takes, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple trip to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring these bugs to your own home.
They are an tricky pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both tricky and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on grossly over-weight people.
They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Telephone Harrier Pest Prevention on 0161 930 8814