A review of Bed Bugs in Worsley, Walkden and Eccles in 2010
One of the most hated and least understood pest insect species known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off 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 most probably started to dine on human beings at around the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella mainly feed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on human blood when our ancestors started dwelling} in bat infested caves.
Before the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common guests in most poor quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest controllers dealing with very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being largely restricted to low quality holiday hotels and student housing etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which cannot be seen by the naked, with bed bugs which deinitely.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and swollen after dining on human blood.
Bed bugs usually feed on human blood every few days, coming out in the hours before dawn and locating their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close to their target, they sense body body heat.
Lacking a suitable human meal to feed on they can remain dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
The first signs of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations explode across the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.
What is positive is that that are now making a real fightback not only in lower quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested bed is all it needs, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be sufficient to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both laborious and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on flabby people.
They are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Call Harrier Pest Prevention on 08Ǡ 019 8382