Bed bugs

Signs of infestation:

• Blood stains on matresses and bed clothes and walls
• Excrement, eggshells, and shed skins in hiding spots
• Offensive sweet musty odor when in large abundance

Prevention:

• Do not take objects that may be suspect home with you
• Place worn clothes in tight container before laundering
• Inspect suitcases when traveling and when you return
• These may help to prevent infestations but not a guarantee

Treatment:

• Call a professional exterminator
• Vacuum dispose of bag in a sealed trash bag
• Clean all bedding (120 deg F minimum)
• Place a sealed plastic cover on your mattress and box springs for up to a year or longer
• Areas under bed need to be cleaned out
• Nightstands and dressers should be emptied out
• Make sure area is clutter free
• If apartments or hotel rooms adjacent rooms and apartments may need to be inspected and treated

Natural History:

• Bed bugs do not fly
• Bed bugs can crawl fast over floors, walls, ceilings and other surfaces
• Bed bugs feed at night and also in dimly lit areas
• Takes 3 - 5 minutes to receive a blood meal
• Female bed bugs lay eggs in hidden areas, up to five eggs a day and up to five hundred in its lifetime
• Eggs are the size of a dust particle
• Newly hatched nymphs are smaller than the size of  a pinhead
• Molt 5 times before reaching maturity
• 5 juvenile stages known as nymphs (miniature versions)
• Each stage requires one blood meal to molt to next stage
• Good conditions (70 - 90 deg F) Complete development in as little as a month
• Colder temperatures/ limited blood meals development time is extended
• Nymphs can survive many months without feeding
• Adults can survive longer than a year without a blood meal
• Bed bugs can feed on humans and their warm-blooded animals (pets)

Bites

• Feeding is performed by piercing the skin
• A fluid is introduced not letting the victim know that they are being biten (helps in obtaining food)
• Engorgement takes on average 3 - 5 minutes
• An itchy welt or localized swelling may occur anywhere on the body
• Bites can be confused with mosquito bites
• Areas of bites should always be cleaned and left alone (Do not pick at them) Infection of an open wound can be serious and the need for immediate professioal medical attention
• Bed bugs do not normally transmit disease
• Bites can cause iron dificiency in small babies and small animals if allowed to go untreated

Origin:

• Bed bugs were known to have been around for thousands of years
• The majority were parasites to bats until the introduction of Cavemen
• Throughout history bed bugs were around and mentioned in text
• Infestations were common place before World War II in the US
• Improving hygiene and the use of DDT in the 1940's and 1950's got rid of bedbugs in the US
• Bed bugs remained prevalent in other countries such as, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central and South America
• There has been a comeback recently with globalization, different pest control techniques (baiting, non spraying) and with not as effective bed bug pesticides being used

Bed bugs have also been called "red coats", "chinches", and "mahogany flats"

                         Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite !!! 

The origin of this expression:

•  came from rope beds that would have to be very tightly wound or it would drag on the floor

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