Bed Bug Information
Bed bugs are good hitchhikers and like to travel. They will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply. They are elusive, nocturnal creatures. They can hide behind baseboards and in cracks, crevices, and folded areas of beds, bedding and adjacent furniture, especially mattresses and box springs.
Quick facts:
- Bedbugs are small, oval insects that feed by sucking blood from humans or animals. Bedbugs do not fly.
- Bedbugs can live anywhere in the home. They can live in cracks in furniture or in any type of textile, including upholstered furniture. They are most common in beds, including the mattress, box springs, and bed frames.
- Bedbugs are most active at night. They may bite any exposed areas of skin while an individual is sleeping. Common locations for bedbug bites are the face, neck, hands, and arms.
- A bedbug bite is painless and is generally not noticed. The bites may be mistaken for a rash of another cause. Small, flat, or raised red bumps on the skin are the most common sign. Symptoms include redness, swelling, and itching.
- Typically, no treatment is required for bedbug bites. If itching is severe, steroid creams or oral antihistamines may be used for symptom relief.
- Fecal stains, egg cases, and shed skins (exuviae) of bedbugs in crevices and cracks on or near beds are suggestive that bedbugs may be present, but only observing the bugs themselves can confirm an active infestation. EnviroPro can help identify and remove bedbugs from the home.
Bed Bug Life Cycle:
Bed bugs begin as an egg which is grain-like and milky white in colour. These eggs can be laid by the female singly or in clusters. The female can lay five to twelve eggs a day and up to six hundred in her lifetime. Eggs hatch within a week and are one millimeter in size. Newly hatched bed bugs will immediately begin to feed.
Nymphs (young bed bugs) pass through five growing stages or molts before reaching maturity. Nymphs can appear similar to adults but are smaller in size and are not yet sexually mature. Nymphs are also yellow-white in colour, while adults are reddish-brown. In order to complete a molting (growing) stage, a nymph requires a blood meal. Nymphs can molt and become adults within five weeks at room temperatures.
The lifespan of a bedbug most commonly ranges from four to six months. If you suspect you may have bed bugs contact EnviroPro for an immediate inspection.