Bed Bugs (Cimicidae: Cimex lectularius) are a problem across the United States. It doesn’t matter if your house is clean or dirty, you can still get bed bugs. Adult bed bugs are 6 mm long, and oval in shape. They are brown in color and flat until they have a blood meal when they are red and bloated. The nymphs are like the adults but are smaller and nearly colorless or pale yellow. These bugs are wingless. Bed bugs are visible to the naked eye. They can go from an egg to an adult in six to eight weeks, depending on the food supply and room temperature.
Do I Have Bed Bugs?
People usually realize they have bed bugs when they get bitten and develop red, raised areas on their skin. If you think you have been bitten by bed bugs, look for these signs:
- Empty skins from bed bugs molting
- Bed bugs in the folds of the mattress, sheets, and upholstered furniture
- Black feces bed bugs excrete after a blood meal
- Small dried blood stains on sheets or pajamas
- Smelling a sweet musty odor
Health Concerns
Bed bugs carry diseases, but they have not been shown to give them to humans. The bites often itch, so people scratch them. They can then get secondary infections in the scratches. Being bitten by bed bugs can cause insomnia either due to the itchy bites or the uncomfortable feelings they cause. If the infestation is severe or goes on long enough, a person can develop anemia from blood loss.
Preventing Bed Bugs
You must be vigilant to prevent bed bugs from entering your home. Here are some measures to take to keep them away:
- Do not place purses, backpacks, and bags on furniture, bed, or any fabric. Place them on a counter or other flat, hard surface.
- Leave furniture, mattresses, bedsprings, and bed frames from the street out on the street--they may be full of bed bugs
- Check all used or rented furniture for bed bugs
- Only get used furniture from a vendor that has a bed bug prevention plan
- When traveling, check for bedbugs in hotel rooms. Place your luggage in the bathtub while you verify that there are no bed bugs on mattresses, bedding, and furniture. Also, check the webbing on the luggage rack.
- Check your luggage when you are leaving to make sure there are no bed bugs in your clothes or on the luggage.
- Seal cracks and crevices around plumbing and electrical wires in your apartment to reduce the chances of bed bugs traveling into your apartment from a neighbor’s apartment.
If You Find Bed Bugs, Get Help Immediately
Don’t think of trying to get rid of these bugs yourself. They are hard for professionals to kill, let alone homeowners. It can several visits from a properly trained technician to get rid of bed bugs. Pest Pro Pest Control has trained and licensed technicians to help you. Our technician will come out and search the places bed bugs hide to verify it really is bed bugs that are plaguing you.
If we find bed bugs, we treat them with a liquid. We will give you a fact sheet with a list of things you need to do to get your house ready for treatment. We apply our treatment to the seams of mattresses and box springs, closets, light fixtures, furniture, dressers, and other places bed bugs like to live in.
Two weeks after we treat your house, we will come back and re-treat it. We are so sure we will eliminate your infestation that if you see a bed bug or signs of bed bugs within six weeks of the final treatment, we will repeat the treatment for free.
Get rid of your bed bugs. Call Pest Pro Pest Control today.