Bed Bug Bites in Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley in 2010
Written by Author on June 12th, 2010One of the most reviled and misunderstood pests known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped off to sleep at night as kids with the parting rhyme of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs most probably started to predate on man at about the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella largely fed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on human beings when our ancestors started staying} in bat infested caves.
Until the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace guests in most low quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest operatives dealing with very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being mostly restricted to low quality holiday homes and student housing etc.
Most people mistake dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which deinitely.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after dining on human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on human blood every seven to ten days, appearing in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by smelling the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when nearby their target, they sense infra red heat.
Without a suitable human meal to dine on they can stay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Often the first sign of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on bedding and on the corners of mattresses and many people can react badly to the bites of these bugs.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug reports explode everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been argued as reasons for the resurgence.
What is sure is that that are now making a real fightback not only in slum quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested hotel is all it requires, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an tricky pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They hide in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds 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 needed.
Call Harrier Pest Control on 01772 837727