One of the most feared and misunderstood pest insect species known to science is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as youngsters with the parting rhyme of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs probably started to predate on human beings at around the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on man when our forebears started sleeping} in bat infested caves.

Up to the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in most low quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies having very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being mostly restricted to budget holiday hotels and student accomadation etc.

A lot of people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which deinitely.

Adult bedbugs are reddish in colour, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after a feed of human blood.

Bed bugs typically feed on a target’s blood every seven to ten days, coming out in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by smelling the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when close to their target, they sense body body heat.

Lacking a suitable human meal to feed on they can stay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bugs

Signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on sheets and on the base of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to the bites of these bugs.

The early the 21st century has seen bed bug numbers growing everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.

What is positive is that that are now making a real comeback not only in cheaper quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

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

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

They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on very fat people.

A way of preventing bed bug infestation is to fit your bed with Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements.

Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements stop bed bugs from entering your mattress.

Visit to the Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements site for further details.

They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Phone us on 0161 930 8814

{ 0 comments }