One of the most feared and least understood pest species known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as children with the parting words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs probably started to predate on man at about the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily fed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bugs 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 unwelcome guests in most slum quality homes.

The later years of the 20th century saw pest control companies having very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being generally restricted to cheap holiday hotels and student lodgings etc.

A lot of people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which most certainly can be seen.

Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after feeding on human blood.

Bed bugs typically feed on a target’s blood every week or so, emerging in the early hours of the morning and homing in on their target by sniffing the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close in on their target, body heat.

In the absence of a suitable human meal to dine on they can lay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bug Bites

Signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the corners of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.

The early part of this century has seen bed bug reports explode everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been argued as reasons for the resurgence.

What is sure is that that are now making a real resurgence not only in low quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.

|One night away in an infested bed is all it needs, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on transport of all kinds so a simple trip to work on an infested tube or train can be sufficient to spread these bugs to your own home.

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

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

Call Harrier Pest Prevention on 01772 837727

Paul Frank Clothes