by Alison Bowler

Created on: April 23, 2010

Bedbugs, or to give them their Latin name Cimex lectularius, are small insects that have evolved alongside man. As their common name suggests they live in our beds. In people’s homes, hotels, hostels or cruise ships any bed may provide a home for these little insects. Once at home in a bed the bed bug feeds on blood, making small, painless, bites on the bed’s human occupant to do so. Some people develop an allergic reaction to these bites but the bugs do not spread infectious diseases. So how do these little pests get into our homes?

The bedbug likes dark areas in which to live and will commonly hide in the bed-frame, mattress or box spring. Bedbugs may reside in other furniture, particularly if used for sleeping. They are usually active and feeding during the night. However, a hungry bedbug will feed during the day. Bedbugs may survive several months without feeding.

It is often difficult to spot bedbugs. A mature adult bedbug is about a quarter inch long and dark brown in color. A newly hatched bedbug is far smaller, about the size of a poppy seed. As they grow bedbugs molt and the remains of their molted shells are often the first indication a homeowner sees of an infestation. A newly molted bedbug is light almost white in color. As its new shell ages the bedbug darkens through tan to brown. When they have fed the blood of its host appear as a red or black area within the bedbug. The bodies of bedbugs are fairly flat allowing them to hide in thin crevasses.

So how do these insects arrive in someone’s bed?

The bedbug is a wingless insect, so cannot fly to a new home. Commonly bedbugs move via hiding in someone’s luggage. In this way holidaymakers may bring home a living souvenir from an infested hotel. Other modes of moving to a new home are in furniture or bedding. So second hand furniture, particularly used mattresses, should be inspected carefully or their new owner may end up with some unwanted house guests. The same risk occurs with second hand bedding particularly pillows or duvets.

A vacant house or apartment may not be so vacant. Bedbugs hide in crevasses and when a new owner moves in they emerge to infest the bedroom furniture.

An infestation in an adjoining neighbor’s apartment or house may move next-door. They move though voids in adjoining walls gaining access to other homes via the holes made for cables or pipes.

Occasionally animals such as bats or birds nesting in roof spaces introduce bedbugs into a home. Such animals also carry related species of bugs known as bat bugs and bird bugs.

Because they can hide in small crevasses an expert in pest control is frequently required to treat an infestation and to ascertain its source. Keeping a bedroom uncluttered removes many hiding places for this insect and aids in the successful removal of an infestation.

Bedbug infestation can happen to anyone. It is not an indication of a dirty home. However, once discovered an infestation requires prompt treatment.

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