Bed Bug Detector

While red marks may be an indication of an infestation, they are surely not a confirmation. looking these critters is no easy task, as they are practically 4-5 mm in distance with a flattened form, allowing them to hide in crevices and creases with ease. While often found hiding all over the house, their beloved spot to conceal themselves-in the event that a mattress cover or pillow cover are not being used-is in or colse to the bed, hence their name. Being so close to their primary food source gives them the chance to feed every 5-10 days, though they are able to live up to 18 months without eating. .

A bed bug will dine on human blood for practically 5-15 minutes before it will be fully engorged, more than tripling its size. This convert has been known to cause misidentification as it becomes round in shape, different from its naturally flat shape. Additionally, when it is an adult it becomes brown in color, except after feeding when it takes on a dark red hue due to the intake of human blood.

Because of their limited size and innate potential to hide, bed bugs can enter the home in a multitude of ways, along with any type of object that can be transferred from one home, apartment, condo, hotels, etc., to another. This transferability, coupled with their hyperactive reproduction, allows their wrath to be thorough very quickly, especially in homes that are older or have many cracks and crevices, messy cluttered homes, and homes where mattresses or pillows are not covered with some sort of allergen-reducing encasements. To get a feel of their potential to infest an whole house, here are some pregnancy facts:

oFemales lay eggs in clusters of 10-50 in just one day

oThe eggs are whitish in color, pear shaped and practically 1 mm in length

oA female will lay up 500 eggs during her lifetime

oEggs hatch in 1-2 weeks time

oIn one year's time, three generations of can be produced

oNewly hatched nymphs--as they are called-begin to feed on human blood immediately

oNymphs are colorless and the size of a pinhead

oA nymph will go through five molting stages before becoming a full adult, feeding during each stage

Though these wingless vampires have been known to be brimming with pathogens--hepatitis B and plague included--they have not been shown to be a transmitter of disease. Unlike mosquitoes, they are not thought of as being a curative threat, making them more of an annoyance then anything else.

Some habitancy try to live with bed bugs in their lives, though they often are covered with welts and scars from scratching all over their bodies. No distance is great adequate to be protected once they have entered your home. They have been known to trip over 100 feet on their own to feed, making merely disinfesting your bed and using mattress and pillow covers a futile act.

In order to be fully rid of these pests, a home needs to be wholly cleaned, ensuring that every crease, crevice, floorboard, outlet and corner has been cleaned and rid of them and their eggs. Furthermore, every hole and crack should be filled and caulked, leaving limited to no room for already existing eggs to drill the home. Once your house is rid of infestation, you should use a complete, zippered mattress encasement, a perfect zippered pillow encasement, and a zippered encasement for your box spring. This traps any existing critters inside, essentially constantly removing them from their food source, and disallowing new bugs from hiding in their beloved hotbeds.

-Ben Anton, 2007