Bed Bugs Elimination – Ways To Drive The Bullies Away
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Abhishek Agarwal
These little creatures called bed bugs can threaten your quality of life. Not simply by disturbing your sleep every night and keeping you awake. But because they sting your skin, making it itchy, reddish and swollen. Worse is if your skin has extreme allergies to bug bites. However, don’t feel helpless; there are available solutions.
The scientific background of the little pest
Bed bugs are named as the “Cimes lectularius” in the science of entomology. Their color is mostly reddish brown, flat oval in shape and has microscopic hairs that appear as stripes through naked eye. They grow to about 4 to 5mm or 1/8″ to 3/16″ and they can be seen easily as they move slowly. Younger bugs are translucent and lighter in color. When they reach maturity, they look like tiny apple seeds. They are wingless tiny insects that are considered nocturnal who sleep by day and are active at night time. Bed bugs are most active at dawn and are attracted to human’s body warmth and presence of carbon dioxide. These pests pierce the skin with two hollow tubes. One tube injects saliva containing anticoagulants and anesthetics. The other tube sucks blood from its victim. They feed unnoticed because of the anesthetic substance for several minutes. The itchiness and swelling of skin happen after an hour. Poor are the victims whose bloods are sucked unnoticed until the bug has eaten enough.
Disease transmission
There were no known facts of disease transmission due to bed bug bites although they are carriers of some viruses like plague and Hepatitis B. However other people do get serious scars and scratches out of skin infections
Reproduction
Bedbugs can lay 500 times in its lifetime at the rate of five eggs per day. The size of the egg is about 1mm in length with milky white color. They hatch in 1 to 2 weeks.
Eating habit
The bugs typically seek food every five to ten days. They can go dormant for up to 18 months without food and those that eat the most live the shortest at typically 4 to 6 months. The new bugs begin to eat early. In fact in its 5 molting stages before maturity, they must eat once during each stage. When they bite, they transfer from one portion of the skin to the other as the movement of a sleeping person disturbs them. This is where you see patterns of bites in a row or a cluster.
Where they stay
Bedbugs are not associated with filth. It is a mistaken notion that this attracts them. They are there not because there is presence of waste and dirt. They are there because of the ideal heat and the presence of carbon dioxide that attacks them. However, infestations may be associated with poor housekeeping in the sense that they were allowed to stay despite detection. Bed Bugs are difficult to find, but knowing where to look would help. They usually thrive on beddings or upholstered furniture where humans usually stays. They hide in the folds of the upholsteries. They stay in every nook, crevice and cranny of furniture, walls and cabinets. Clusters of insects hide there with their eggs.
Catching them
Low infestations are harder to detect.To catch them, use a flashlight and look for them in an hour before dawn when they are most active. Movements must be taken with care, as bugs will scamper like ants when disturbed. Glue traps may be used in strategic areas where they are known to hide. A double sided tape may do the trick too. Pesticide use is the best way to eradicate Bed Bugs. Detamethrin is an effective pesticide. Spraying DDT was a popular practice but the government banned it due to potential issues with humans. Treatments applied nowadays are done by professionals hired by homeowners where certain procedures are required before they come. Like for example, garments and beddings identified as infested must be discarded from the house.
Preventions
Preventions of infestation could be addressed with the knowledge of some of its characteristics. Bed Bugs do not fly or jump but they can climb higher walls or ceilings to fall down and get into another area. They can be your bed, bench, upholstered chairs and other furniture. So beds and furniture must be protected by putting barriers around its legs. A method is putting cardboard tainted with pesticide. Ceilings and walls maybe protected by putting chemical chalk at the base. Cleanliness is the best in preventing bed bugs. Beddings and pillows need regular replacement. Furniture being cleaned outside with water and detergents regularly will control possible infestations.
These little creatures called bed bugs can threaten your quality of life. Not simply by disturbing your sleep every night and keeping you awake. But because they sting your skin, making it itchy, reddish and swollen. Worse is if your skin has extreme allergies to bug bites. However, don’t feel helpless; there are available solutions.
The scientific background of the little pest
Bed bugs are named as the “Cimes lectularius” in the science of entomology. Their color is mostly reddish brown, flat oval in shape and has microscopic hairs that appear as stripes through naked eye. They grow to about 4 to 5mm or 1/8″ to 3/16″ and they can be seen easily as they move slowly. Younger bugs are translucent and lighter in color. When they reach maturity, they look like tiny apple seeds. They are wingless tiny insects that are considered nocturnal who sleep by day and are active at night time. Bed bugs are most active at dawn and are attracted to human’s body warmth and presence of carbon dioxide. These pests pierce the skin with two hollow tubes. One tube injects saliva containing anticoagulants and anesthetics. The other tube sucks blood from its victim. They feed unnoticed because of the anesthetic substance for several minutes. The itchiness and swelling of skin happen after an hour. Poor are the victims whose bloods are sucked unnoticed until the bug has eaten enough.
Disease transmission
There were no known facts of disease transmission due to bed bug bites although they are carriers of some viruses like plague and Hepatitis B. However other people do get serious scars and scratches out of skin infections
Reproduction
Bedbugs can lay 500 times in its lifetime at the rate of five eggs per day. The size of the egg is about 1mm in length with milky white color. They hatch in 1 to 2 weeks.
Eating habit
The bugs typically seek food every five to ten days. They can go dormant for up to 18 months without food and those that eat the most live the shortest at typically 4 to 6 months. The new bugs begin to eat early. In fact in its 5 molting stages before maturity, they must eat once during each stage. When they bite, they transfer from one portion of the skin to the other as the movement of a sleeping person disturbs them. This is where you see patterns of bites in a row or a cluster.
Where they stay
Bedbugs are not associated with filth. It is a mistaken notion that this attracts them. They are there not because there is presence of waste and dirt. They are there because of the ideal heat and the presence of carbon dioxide that attacks them. However, infestations may be associated with poor housekeeping in the sense that they were allowed to stay despite detection. Bed Bugs are difficult to find, but knowing where to look would help. They usually thrive on beddings or upholstered furniture where humans usually stays. They hide in the folds of the upholsteries. They stay in every nook, crevice and cranny of furniture, walls and cabinets. Clusters of insects hide there with their eggs.
Catching them
Low infestations are harder to detect.To catch them, use a flashlight and look for them in an hour before dawn when they are most active. Movements must be taken with care, as bugs will scamper like ants when disturbed. Glue traps may be used in strategic areas where they are known to hide. A double sided tape may do the trick too. Pesticide use is the best way to eradicate Bed Bugs. Detamethrin is an effective pesticide. Spraying DDT was a popular practice but the government banned it due to potential issues with humans. Treatments applied nowadays are done by professionals hired by homeowners where certain procedures are required before they come. Like for example, garments and beddings identified as infested must be discarded from the house.
Preventions
Preventions of infestation could be addressed with the knowledge of some of its characteristics. Bed Bugs do not fly or jump but they can climb higher walls or ceilings to fall down and get into another area. They can be your bed, bench, upholstered chairs and other furniture. So beds and furniture must be protected by putting barriers around its legs. A method is putting cardboard tainted with pesticide. Ceilings and walls maybe protected by putting chemical chalk at the base. Cleanliness is the best in preventing bed bugs. Beddings and pillows need regular replacement. Furniture being cleaned outside with water and detergents regularly will control possible infestations.
