Bed Bug Bites in Oldham,Rochdale and Middleton in 2010
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010One of the most feared and least understood pest insect species known to civilisation is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as youngsters with the parting words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on people at about the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella mainly fed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on human beings when our forebears started dwelling} in bat infested caves.
Before the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common stowaways in most slum quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest controllers called out to very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to budget holiday homes and student lodgings etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which cannot be seen by the unaided eye, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish in colour, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after feeding on human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on our blood every few days, appearing in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when close to their target, body heat.
Without a suitable human meal to dine on they can remain dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Often the first sign of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the base of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to bed bug bites.
The early the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations explode all over the planet, the easy availability of overseas and economic migration have both been argued as reasons for the resurgence.
What is known is that that are now making a real comeback not only in lower quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug problems every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night away in an infested hotel is all it needs, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a simple journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring these bugs to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both tricky and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on flabby people.
They are not a pest that can be successfully tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Telephone Harrier Pest Control on 01257 230637