by Eric Lannak

Created on: August 17, 2010   Last Updated: April 27, 2011

Bedbugs congregate in little groups around places where people sleep. As the humans snooze, they scuttle out every 3-5 days or so, find the nearest flesh, and drink their fill. When nicely bloated they’ll retreat to rest and fornicate until it’s time to feed again.

In a few months a breeding couple can spawn a population of thousands. But one or two humans can only support a few bugs, and the groups farthest from the bed will eventually hit the road (only to be replaced by new baby bugs).

THE HITCH-HIKERS

These bugs will hitch rides in luggage, purses, backpacks, clothing, or anything else that will carry them. They’ve been found in laptops, boom boxes, and even the spines of books.

They may be carried to hotel rooms, other homes, theaters, waiting rooms, and restaurants. They’ll move to other garments, hide in upholstery, or be shaken loose and find new carriers. Unless you shun the movies, the doctor’s and dentist’s offices, stores, cars belonging to others, and offices…  you can’t be sure some wanderers won’t find their next ride on you.

Eventually they end up someplace where they detect CO2 at night, signaling the presence of sleeping prey. The bugs will scuttle many yards to reach the source, and once there they’ll settle in and a new colony is born.

THE OOPS MIGRATION

Bedbugs prefer wood, cloth, paper, and cardboard surfaces, and settle into the seams and crannies of the material. When these items (like furniture, boxes, clothes, and paintings) move, the bedbugs move with them. Secondhand furniture and clothing can all bring bedbugs into your home. This usually happens innocently during estate sales or items sold by families with no bedbug allergy (about half of all people don’t react to bedbug bites and won’t know they have an infestation).

Sometimes, however, thoughtless and even criminal acts can introduce bedbugs into your home. You can get bedbugs from items sold from a home where an infestation is known (criminal), or from curbside items that are collected and resold (thoughtless).  Almost any used furniture can pose a bedbug risk.

THE NEIGHBORS

Housing with common walls (like condos, town homes, apartments, hotels, and row homes) have openings bugs can use to travel into neighboring dwellings. These can be as tiny as paper-thin cracks under the baseboard molding or as big as continuous gaps under the floor, chases for pipes and wiring, and common attic space.

When

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