Bed Bugs Are Back In Manchester, Blackpool & Southport

March 12, 2010 · Posted in Bed Bugs On The Rampage, Uncategorized

Manchester Pest Control

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Bed Bugs Are Back In Manchester, Blackpool & Southport

Bed Bugs Are Back In Manchester, Blackpool & Southport – One of the most hated and misunderstood pests known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us gone off to sleep at night as children with the words of our parents in our ears ‘sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite’?

Bed bugs may have started to feed on man at about the time 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 bug evolved to feed on human blood when our ancesters started dwelling in bat infested caves.

Bed Bugs

Until the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in a lot of poor quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely confined to cheap vacation camps and student lodging etc.

Many people mistake dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which certainly are.

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

They experience an incomplete metamorphosis which means that the babies are just smaller copies of the adult, they don’t have a pupal stage like fleas or a fly.

Bed bugs regularly feed on human blood every 7 – 10 days, emerging in the hours before dawn and sensing their host target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from our breath and when close in on their target, infra red body heat.

In the absence of a convenient human to feed on they can [lay|lie|stay|remain dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Signs of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and some people can react badly to their bites.

The early 21st century has seen bed bug numbers increase across the world, the cheap availability of global travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the come back.

What is positive is that thet are now making a major comeback not only in low quality housing but high class hotels, schools and often hospitals.

Bed Bug Bites

One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug jobs every single year from 1995 – 2001.

A single night away in an infested hotel is all it takes, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting instances of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a single ride to town on an infested bus or train can be sufficient to spread the infestation to your own home.

They are an expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human being, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been found living under the toe-nails of infirm persons and in the creases of flesh on grossly over-weight people.

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

Bed Bugs Are Back In Manchester, Blackpool & Southport