September 28, 2021
Bugs In My Bed?
Rochester Pest Pro helps solve bed bug problems in all of Rochester’s neighborhoods. Bed bugs are a problem all year round, and many of us—probably most of us—sleep in beds or on couches all year round.
Bed bugs are tiny oval or shield-shaped insects no bigger than a tomato seed. Their diet consists of the blood of humans and animals. Like ticks, their bodies become engorged to a much larger size after feeding.
Bed bugs breed profusely, with the females laying several hundred eggs over their short lifetimes. These are so tiny that they can easily be taken for dust.
Having bed bugs does not necessarily mean a space is dirty or ill-kept. Bed bugs come into our spaces in all kinds of ways, like clinging to pant legs, shoes, furniture, etc. Luggage is a favorite transportation method of bed bugs, as they can lie still there for some time and establish a foothold in several locations as their mobile home moves. Their bodies are flat and can fit into spaces as small as the teeth of a zipper.
Bed bugs feed and move around at night more than during the day and are attracted to heat and carbon dioxide breathed out by sleeping humans and other animals. Such a tiny insect, but one of the creepier ways of detecting their food.
Bed bugs hide in places like curtains, bedding, carpets, furniture cavities, and cushion stuffing. They pierce our skin with a sharp little mandible unit and draw blood through it. If you find these signs, you might have bed bugs.
- Itchy little red bites on your skin, especially in places like your ankles and wrists where the blood vessels are abundant, and the skin is thin.
- Red-brown streaks in seams and crevices. Because bed bugs eat blood, their feces and smashed bodies are a rusty color.
- The dusty, dry residue of exoskeletons from dried-out bed bug corpses. If you see it, don’t touch it.
- Tiny white or yellowish eggs that turn dry and amber-colored once hatched.
Diseases Caused by Bed Bugs
The bed bug common to North America, Cimex Lectularius, is related to the triatomines, also called kissing bugs. These can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that produces Chagas disease. The parasite is not passed by the biting and blood sucking of the insects, but by the feces they leave behind after feeding, which gets into the tiny wounds and other openings on the skin. The bites do not swell as much as mosquito bites, and due to their location, scratching them makes them bleed again easily, which adds to the risk of infection.
Bed bugs are worse than their cousins in one important way—they are harder to kill because they have developed resistance to pesticides commonly used by homeowners. For more information on that, check out this information from Dr. M.Z. Levy, PHD, and researchers from the Penn Medicine Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatics.
This is a big reason why you need a pro to deal with bed bugs in a conclusive way. Contact us or call (585) 486-4815.