Preston Pest Control Bed Bugs
Please
do not attempt to tackle a bed bug infestation without professional
help, they have a defence mechanism which will just spread the
infestation, nor will buying a new bed help.
One of the most hated and misunderstood pests
known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped
off to sleep at night as kids with the words of our parents in our ears
‘sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs
bite’?
Bed bugs possibly
started to feed on man at about the time we moved into caves, the
‘bat bugs’ Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella
primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of
bug evolved to dine on human blood when our ancesters started dwelling
in bat infested caves.
Until the arrival
of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common non-paying guests
in most low quality homes.
The later part of
the 20th century experienced pest control companies dealing with very
few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely restricted to
inexpenisve holiday camps and student accomodation etc.
Many people
confuse dust mites, which aren't visible to the unaided eye, with bed
bugs which certainly are.
Adult bedbugs are
red-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and decidely swollen
after a meal of human blood.
They have an
incomplete metamorphosis which means that the young are just smaller
copies of the adult, they don't have a pupal stage like a flea or
flies.
Bed bugs
typically feed on human blood every 7 – 10 days, coming out
in the hours before dawn and locating their target by sensing the
exhaled carbon dioxide from our breath and when nearing in on their
target, body heat.
In the absence of
a convenient human to feed on they can stay dormant for
periods of up to 18 months.
Typical
costs - Preston Pest Control bed Bugs -on request
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Preston Bed Bugs
Indications of a bed bug problem are spots of
blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and many people can
react badly to their bites.
The early 21st
century has seen bed bug numbers increase across the planet, the cheap
availability of world travel and economic migration have both been
blamed for the resurgence.
What is positive
is that thet are now making a real comeback not only in poor quality
dwellings but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London
borough reported a doubling of bed bug call-outs every year from 1995
– 2001.
A single night
away in an infested hotel is all it takes, they hitch a ride in your
suitcases or bags. Pest control firms are also now reporting cases of
transport related bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a
simple journey to work on an infested bus or train can be enough to
spread the infestation to your home.
They are an
expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular mythology they don't
just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close
to a sleeping human being, beds, electrical sockets, televisions,
bed-side bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both
difficult and time consuming. They have even been found living beneath
the toe-nails of infirm persons and in the creases of flesh on heavily
over-weight people.
They are not a
pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a professional will almost
certainly be [needed|required.
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