Bed bugs are undesirable everywhere. They reside in beds, suck blood and cause stench and pollution in homes and hotels. People who suffer from bed bugs sometimes call our preofessionals in tears: that's how bad the plague can be. Don't linger in a suspicion, but tackle bedbugs by recognizing the insect in time!
What's a bed bug?
A bed bug is a very small pest. Officially, there is no such thing as a 'bed mite'. The term is mainly used to control bedbugs. This is not strange, because bed bugs and mites are often confused by laymen. What is certain is that bed bugs can be very persistent pests. If you suspect that you are suffering from bedbugs, you should go out and investigate as soon as possible and hire a professional to combat them.
How Do Bed Bugs Live?
An adult female lays up to about 10 eggs per day and about 200 in her entire life. After 2 weeks, the nymph hatches. The nymph molts several times until it is 6 weeks old and can be called an adult bedbug. Bedbugs love blood from humans, among other creatures, and this is what they feed on. The name of this little insect tells you where it likes to settle, namely in the bed.
So it likes to be in the bedroom and often has all the time to pierce your skin with its snout and suck your blood. At the snout there is a small tube through which the blood can pass. This also releases anesthetic and anti-coagulant substances into your skin, so you don't feel the bedbug bite and the blood doesn't clot as quickly. This allows the bedbug to continue until it is satisfied. Favorite place to sting seems to be the legs, but any place is up for grabs for this insect.
How do you get bed bugs?
Bed bugs are mainly spread by travel. For example, you stay in a hotel room where bed bugs are in the bed, nightstands or carpets. These insects dive into your suitcase unseen and you take them home. There, the critters crawl out of the suitcase. They then hide in the craziest and most difficult to reach places. This is where the misery begins.
When you lie in bed, you lose moisture. Your body temperature also makes it nice and warm in bed. Pleasant? That stops as soon as they crawl into your bed. The warmth and moisture allow their eggs and larvae to develop quickly. Moreover, the larvae and adults literally suck the blood from your body, which is far from comfortable.
Recognizing bedbugs: what should you pay particular attention to?
A bed bug is very small and can hide in anything. This does not make recognising bedbugs easy, but it is also not impossible. What exactly do you have to pay attention to?
- White granules; in the seams and hems of your mattress, near skirting boards, bed legs and headboards can be eggs.
- Pay attention to bed bug larvae. These are also called 'nymphs'. They are transparent, but turn bright red when they suck blood.
- Also check your bed for adult bed bugs. A bed bug is only 5 mm in size and has a flat reddish-brown body that swells and discolours when blood is sucked.
- Bed bugs can only crawl. If you see something jumping or flying, it is certainly not a bed bug.
- Check your sheets and blankets for bedbug droppings. These could be red or black spots. These are best visible on light-coloured sheets.
- Bed bugs are only active at night. During the day they only show themselves when they are very hungry.
- At night, you're bitten by bedbugs. Often that's the first sign of their presence!
How do you recognize bed bug bites?
When you sleep in bed at night, you may be bitten by one or more bed bugs. You don't feel anything about the bites themselves, the more shocking it is when you wake up the next morning with an itchy skin. Was it really a bug? Did it even bite several times? Here's a little checklist for recognizing bedbugs bites!
The bites line up on your skin. This happens when the bed bug is disturbed during bloodsucking. It then bites again a few times.
You will see small round bumps, especially in your neck and on your hands, arms and legs. The bumps itch very badly!
Why are the bumps so itchy? If a bed bug bites, it leaves several dusts in your skin. These help the bug to suck up the blood more easily. Unfortunately, it's also these dusts that cause itching and redness.
Bed bug rash. How do you treat a bug bites?
Bed bugs are not known to cause or transmit disease. Allergic reactions can occur in people who are sensitive to insect bites. Doctors advise not to scratch the bumps in particular, otherwise you can leave nasty scars on the bites. You can use an ointment to soothe the itching. Bed bug bites disappear by themselves after a few weeks.
Controlling bed bugs
Fighting bedbugs in your house or hotel? Spraying an insect repellent yourself does not help: the bed bugs are often too numerous for that. Moreover, they know how to hide everywhere, even in places that seem almost impossible to you, such as mobile phones and power sockets. After all, the critters love heat and they find it in electrical appliances.
Our best advice for fighting bed bugs? If you (think you) suffer from bed bugs, contact us immediately. We can carry out an inspection and exterminate the bed bugs with insecticide, steam or heat. After the inspection, you will be offered a plan of action: in this plan, we explain what we can do for you and exactly what it will cost to get rid of the bedbugs. This is why you always want professional help against bed bugs.
Don't give bedbugs a chance. Call us!
Bed bugs can ruin your life, especially if they're in every room of your house or hotel. Don't give them a chance to spread: call now for a highly skilled professional in your area!