Bed Bugs Facts - Information About Bed Bugs

Worried about bed bugs? Get information and facts about bed bugs, including tips on how to get rid of them.

Cimex lectularius or commonly known as bed bugs are tiny pest that is causing major problems in fast growing urban countries. They are small, wingless insects that will feed on the blood of any warm-blooded animals or mammals.

Though not strictly nocturnal, they are mainly active at night and like to feed between midnight to the early morning wee hours when their host is still asleep. They are known as "bed bugs" because of their preferred feeding habits and infestations near beds where their hosts may sleep. Bed bugs find their hosts by the body heat and the carbon dioxide that the host exhale. Their bites are painless so the host is unaware when they are being bitten.

Additional Key Information About Bed Bugs

The typical lifespan of a bed bug is approximately 12 to 18 months.

A bed bug female can produce up to 5 eggs per day and can lay a total of 300 eggs during her lifetime.

The newly hatched nymph is white or pale yellow in color and will take 21 to 56 days to reach sexual maturity under favorable environment conditions.

Adult bed bugs are ¼ inch long (or about the size of an apple seed) and have a flattened, reddish brown, oval shape body when unfed.

Bed bugs don't spread disease, but their bites can cause redness and itching.

bed bugs

Growing Populations

The spread of bed bugs has been largely attributed to the increase in international travel where they embed themselves in your clothing or luggage when you are staying in a infested hotel room.

Their growing populations can also be attributed to a decrease in the use of powerful pest-killing products such as DDT, that was banned in the 1980s for environmental and health concerns.

Symptoms of Bed Bugs

Usually the first symptoms that you may have bed bugs are waking up to find red, itchy bumps on your skin. The unique characteristic of bed bug bites are the bites are always reported in a row or clustered pattern.

You may also find tiny bloodstains on your bed sheets from crushed bugs, or dark spots from their droppings around your mattresses.

In severe infestations, the room will carry a distinctive and unpleasant almond-like smell.

How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Proper housekeeping such as deep vacuuming mattresses, upholstered furniture and floors can help remove the bugs. Pay particular attention to any cracks, crevices and open spaces on the walls, floors or upholstered furniture.

Repairing and sealing any cracks and crevices with caulking will help to stop any new infestations.

Laundered linens and clothes in hot water for at least 20 minutes at temperature above 120°F will kill the bugs. For bigger items, use the dryer or get a bed bug steamer.

Applying diatomaceous earth powder to possible infested areas will kill bed bugs when the bugs come into contact with the powder.

In addition, sealing your mattress with allergy proof mattress covers will help prevent bed bug bites and eventually kill any bed bugs and eggs that are trapped within.

Get Rid of bed Bugs With Professional Exterminators

Getting rid of bed bugs will unquestionably be a long-winded and demanding task. If you feel that you do not have the time or the energy to execute the extermination well on your own, it is advisable to hire a pest control expert who have invested in the knowledge, training and equipment to do the job well and guarantee the success of the extermination operation.

Click Here To Get A Free Quote From Your Local Bed Bug Exterminator!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Scientific Reasons Why Bed Bugs Spread

In this episode Jeff will discuss the scientific article that was recently published in the American Entomologist and the Journal of Medical Entomology which discusses the bed bug reproductive process “traumatic insemination” and how this may influence the way bed bugs spread throughout an infested home.

Traumatic insemination is the process by which bed bugs reproduce in that the male pierces the females abdomen with his reproductive organ and injects his seminal fluid into the body cavity of the female which then circulates to the ovaries and fertilizes the egg.

For years bed bugs experts have noticed that when they are in an infested apartment, the bugs they typically see away from the aggregations of bugs (away from the sleeping areas) are typically female bed bugs. The theory behind this behavior has been that females will be continually “assaulted” by males who are trying to reproduce with the females and this aggressive reproductive behavior can lead to infection and death in females. The theory was that by fleeing the aggregations of males the females increase their chances to survive the reproduction cycle. The paper that was recently published from the University of Florida proved in laboratory tests that adult females were typically the life stage that was dispersing away from aggregations of bed bugs. This article started to put some scientific evidence behind this long-standing theory.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bedbugs: A Modern-Day Leprosy. Seriously.

A God loving man, Bart Campolo talks about how he who judge all those Bible people who shunned the lepers to protect themselves and their families find himself "just as normal as any other man on the street" after his encounter with bed bugs.

Read the story at http://blog.sojo.net/2009/11/30/bedbugs-a-modern-day-leprosy-seriously/