One of the most detested and least known pests known to man is the bed bug C lectularius. Many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as children with the words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”
Bed Bugs may have started to dine on human beings at around the period we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella mostly fed on bats and it is possible that bat feeding species of bug evolved to predate on human blood when our ancestors started living in bat infested caves.
Until the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common guests in most poor quality homes.
The later half of the twentieth century saw pest control professionals dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap holiday camps and student lodgings etc.
Most people mistake dust mites, which can’t be seen by to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which most certainly are.
Adult bedbugs are reddish, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after dining on human blood.
Without a suitable human target to feed on they can lie dormant for lengthy periods of up to 18 months.
Signs of a bed bug problems are oftenspots of blood on sheets and on the base of mattresses and many people can react extremely badly to their bites.
The first decade of the 21st century saw bed bug reports explode across the entire planet, the easy availability of international travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the resurgence.
What is positive is that that are now making a real comeback not only in poor quality properties but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
A single stay in an infested hotel is all it needs, they secret themselves in your clothing or bags. Pest control companies are also now finding cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a simple ride home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to spread the infestation to your own house.
They are an difficult pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just stay in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and clearing 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 of very fat people.
They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Telephone Manchester Pest Control now on 01772 837727