Bed Bugs In Manchester – Bug Rash
Bed Bugs In Manchester – Bug Rash
Bed Bugs Breed
Bed Bugs In Manchester – Bug Rash – Probably one of the most detested, hated and misunderstood pests known to us is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped off to sleep at night as kids with the words of our parents in our ears ‘sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite’?
Bed bugs probably 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 forefathers of many years ago started living in bat infested caves.
Until the arrival of the insecticide DDT in the early part of the20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in most low quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century experienced pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely confined to cheap holiday camps and student lodgings etc.
Many people confuse house dust mites, which are not visible to the naked eye, with bed bugs which certainly are.
Adult bedbugs are reddish-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and greatly swollen after a meal of your blood.
They experience an incomplete metamorphosis which means that the nymphs are just smaller copies of the adult, they do not have a maggot stage like a flea or flies.
Bed bugs regularly feed on human blood every 5 – 10 days, coming out in the hours before dawn and locating their prey by sensing the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when nearing in on their target, infra red body heat.
In the absence of a suitable human host to feed on they can go into a period of stasis or dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Indications of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early 21st century has seen bed bug numbers increase across the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the increase.
What is sure is that that are now making a major return not only in low quality homes but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 – 2001.
One night away in an infested hotel is all it takes, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control firms are also now reporting cases of transport related bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a single ride to town on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular opinion they don’t just live in beds. They hide any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human being, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side bed side telephones etc and treatment is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been found living beneath the toe-nails of infirm persons and in the rolls of flesh on grossly over-weight people.
They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a professional treatment by a qualified pest controllerwill almost certainly be needed.
Aller DMC Dust Mite Controller
Squirrel Stop
