Welcome back to Bed Bug Awareness Week! In order to get rid of bed bugs you have to be able to identify them and we are going to teach you how. Our last post, Introduction to Bed Bug Awareness Week went over some basics about bed bugs. Now we’re going to get into a little more detail, and specifically bed bug inspection!
Our friends at the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) have been crucial in our mission to educate our communities about bed bug infestations and bed bug inspections. We’ve got a bunch of quick facts that we’ve collected over the years, some of which may really interest and surprise you!
BED BUG FACTS!
- Despite being named for their habit of feeding on humans in bed, they can be found pretty much everywhere in a wide variety of locations and items, especially live in cracks in furniture or in any type of textile where they can hide.
- Depending on life cycle stage, bed bugs can range from translucent yellowish (newly hatched) to rusty brown (adult stages) and even bright red after a blood meal. Unfed, bed bugs are flat and oval, yellow to golden brown with a dark squiggle on their abdomen (which is their digestive system).
- Their diet is primarily human blood, but they have been known to feed on other warm-blooded creatures.
- Bed Bugs have made a big comeback recently due to adapting to overuse of the more harmful chemicals of the past. The chemicals used today are safer for humans, and thus not as effective.
- Commonly identified by the many red, itchy bites they leave during their nocturnal snack runs.
- According to 2013 research conducted by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and the University of Kentucky, almost 100% of pest control companies have treated for bed bugs in the past year, compared to just 25% in 2000.
- Bed bugs are very hardy, easily transporting from one place to another by hitchhiking on items you set down.
- Very heavily infested areas may have a characteristically sweet odor to them.
- Bed bugs can live on for up to 12 months without feeding.
Now those facts may be pretty icky, but they’re important. The NPMA has provided us with a crucial infographic geared toward bed bug inspection while traveling that will put your mind at ease while you’re away, and when you come home.
