One of the most hated and least understood pest species known to science is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped off to sleep at night as youngsters with the parting words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs may have started to feed on people at around the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella mainly fed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on man when our forebears started staying} in bat infested caves.

Before the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace unwelcome guests in most poor quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century saw pest controllers called out to very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being generally restricted to low quality holiday camps and student lodgings etc.

Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which certainly.

Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after dining on human blood.

Bed bugs typically feed on a target’s blood every seven to ten days, appearing in the early hours of the morning and homing in on their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close to their target, they sense body body heat.

Without a suitable human meal to feed on they can lay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bug Bites

Often the first sign of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to their bites.

The early part of this century has seen bed bug numbers explode everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of overseas and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.

What is certain is that that are now making a real comeback not only in lower quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.

|One night away in an infested premises is all it takes, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple ride home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to bring bed bugs to your own home.

They are an tricky pest to deal with as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny anywhere close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both laborious 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.

Call Harrier Pest Control on 01772 837727

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