Bed bugs continue to grow as a concern for both homeowners and travelers. These tiny, elusive pests can quickly turn a comfortable place into a nightmare as they cause sleepless nights and leave itchy bites! So what exactly are bed bugs, where do they come from, how do they spread, and most importantly, what can you do to eliminate them!
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are small, reddish-brown insects that feed on the blood of humans and animals. They are wingless and have flat, oval shaped bodies, which allow them to easily hide in cracks and crevices. Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple sea which can make them difficult to spot. Despite their small size, bed bugs can cause a significant amount of discomfort and distress due to their bites.
Key Characteristics of Bed Bugs:
- Size: Approximately 5-7mm long.
- Color: Reddish-brown
- Shape: Flat and oval-shaped.
- Lifespan: Most live 4-6 months, but they can survive for up to a year under favorable conditions.
How Fast Do Bed Bugs Multiply?
A big reason that bed bug infestations can get out of hand so quickly is their reproductive speed. A fed adult bed bug can lay between 1 to 12 eggs a day, and an adult bed bug can lay between 200 and 500 eggs in a lifetime. Once the eggs have been laid, it can take between 21 to 37 days for a bed bug to reach maturation. Before they reach maturation, bed bugs go through their nymph stage. While the nymphs are smaller, they are still feeding! This combination of lots of eggs and quick growth rates can cause an infestation to grow quickly! If you think you have bed bugs, don’t wait to contact a trained professional!
How Do Bed Bugs Spread?
Unlike a lot of their more mobile relatives, bed bugs are primarily hitchhikers. They don’t normally migrate from location to location unless they have something to ride on. When they migrate from place to place, they like to hitch those rides on soft or upholstered surfaces. This makes clothes and bags a perfect way for them to travel. Since they’re so small and prefer to stay in crevices, it is very easy for them to catch a ride unnoticed in the folds of fabric or seams of bags. This spread commonly happens when people travel or when large items are moved from home to home. Once bed bugs are in a home, they can crawl from room to room. This is how an infestation will spread through the whole house. Bed bugs generally won’t travel outside, but they will spread out to all possible feeding areas in a home.
How Can Bed Bug Infestations Be Treated?
Dealing with a bed bug infestation requires prompt and effective treatment. Here at Walker Pest Management, we offer two main methods to eliminate bed bugs: heat treatments and liquid chemical treatments. Both methods have their uses, but we recommend heat treatments for their effectiveness.
For a liquid chemical treatment our techs will go in and apply a liquid chemical that kills the bed bugs. This is applied along all cracks and crevices in the building and will kill any bed bugs that come in contact with it. The reason that we recommend a heat treatment is that it can penetrate all bed bug hiding places. A proper heat treatment will use a portable machine to raise the temperature of the structure to over 120 degrees. This temperature will then be maintained several hours until all eggs, nymphs, and adults are killed. Once that threshold has been met, the temperature can be lowered, and the home will be pest free. Heat treatments offer a depth that liquid treatments simply can’t match. The heat will penetrate any of the hiding spots that bed bugs may try to flee to and will allow the technicians a much better chance of guaranteeing the process. In addition to the effectiveness, the lack of chemicals allows people to come back into their home just hours after the treatment is finished. That means our techs can go in, do the heat treatment, and be finished in a single business day. This allows for fast, effective, and complete bed bug treatment. The only reason that some are steered towards a liquid treatment is the price. Since the liquid treatment can be applied to smaller areas, some jobs will be cheaper up front, but if any bed bugs are missed in the application, the infestation can crop back up.
Bed bugs are a challenging pest and their presence is growing. Every year they spread to more and more homes. If you discover bed bugs in your home, don’t wait to deal with them. Call a professional! Whether you choose heat treatments or a liquid treatment, it is essential to act quickly to prevent the spread of bed bugs and to protect your well being. At Walker Pest Management, we’re here to help you every step of the way. If you suspect that you have an infestation, don’t hesitate to contact us for a thorough inspection!
