Bed Bugs Bolton, Bury and Radcliffe.
One of the most reviled and misunderstood pest species known to science is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as youngsters with the words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on man at around the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella mainly feed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human blood when our ancestors started living} in bat infested caves.
Until the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most poor quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being largely restricted to low quality holiday camps and student lodgings etc.
A lot of people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a few milemetres in size and engorged after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs regularly feed on our blood every seven to ten days, coming out in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when nearby their target, body heat.
Without a suitable human meal to dine on they can lie in a period of dormancy for periods of up to 18 months.
Often the first sign of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on sheets and on the corners of mattresses and many people can react badly to bed bug bites.
The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations expoding across the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the resurgence.
What is certain is that that are now making a real fightback not only in poor quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.
One night away in an infested premises is all it needs, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Stretford Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They hide 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 tricky 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 overweight people.
They are not a pest that can be successfully tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
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