Take The Headache Out Of Bed Bug Control In Charlotte

Identifying Bed Bugs: Signs And Symptoms Of An Infestation

Whether you have bed bugs in your home or want to keep them out, it is critical to know the early signs and symptoms of an infestation. Knowing what to look for can help you avoid bites and prevent these pests from hitching a ride home with you. Here are the best bed bug signs and how to find them.

A White Insect:

If you look at your skin and see a tiny, white insect crawling on you, you may be looking at a bed bug. When a bed bug hatches from its egg, it is a six-legged, white-colored nymph. These baby bed bugs can come out of hiding in dimly lit conditions.

A Red Insect:

If you see a red insect, it could be a bed bug. Baby bed bugs draw blood in and become red in color. Since the abdomen is much larger than the head and thorax, it just looks like a red insect.

A Brown Insect:

Seeing an adult bed bug is rare, but you can find one if you look for it. At full size, a bed bug is about 1/5 of an inch. It is shaped like an apple seed and may appear more red or black, depending on whether or not it has had a recent blood meal. Inspect mattress creases and other tight spaces to find the adults.

Black Spotting:

If bed bugs are present, you may see their fecal matter. Bed bugs leave their waste when they come out to feed. You may also see brown stains. Bed bugs often excrete blood with their waste. It is one of the ways you can tell their droppings from other insect pests, such as cockroaches.

Insect Exoskeletons:

Bed bug nymphs shed their skins as they grow. These skins look like bed bugs, only there is no bed bug inside.

These are the easiest signs to help you detect bed bugs early. There is one more easy sign to watch for, but you'll only see it after they've bitten you. Bed bug bites are a warning sign. If you see bites on your skin while away from home, you can take steps to keep them from hitching a ride on your belongings. Here are some tips to help you identify bed bug bites:

• When a bed bug bites, there is a good chance it will bite three times. Therefore, you'll find three bug bites in one spot. You'll likely have about an inch between the bites.
• When several bed bugs bite, you'll find lots of bites in one area of your skin. The bites are likely to look like a trail on your skin because those wounds show that these insects bit you as they crawled across your skin.
• Bed bug bites can have a rash associated with them, which is often significant.
• Bed bugs tend to bite the skin of the face, neck, shoulders, and upper arms. They do this because they're attracted to carbon dioxide, which humans exhale.

If you detect bed bugs, the next step is to do something about these pests. Let's look at how bed bug infestations spread from location to location and how these insects spread out once they find their way into your home.

How Bed Bug Infestations Spread

One of the hardest things to understand about bed bug control is how these insects spread. For example, are you aware that bed bugs are indoor insects? Do you know that they don't live in your yard? It is critical to understand this because methods that promise to drive them out of your house are doomed to fail. Bed bugs don't want to live outdoors. Also, methods that promise to keep bed bugs from coming into your home from the outside will fail.

You may still have some misconceptions once you understand that bed bugs travel from one location to another by hitching a ride. For example, bed bugs sometimes appear in businesses that don't have beds. You can get them at the movie theater. That means you must watch for warning signs, even when you're not in a motel or hotel.

Bed bugs usually get into homes by hitching a ride in luggage, duffel bags, book bags, pocketbooks, etc. You'll want to guard against this. But you also need to know they can come into your home on used furniture and other household items. Any object with a void inside can provide a harbor for these insects.

The last fact you need to understand about getting bed bugs is that they can pass through walls. Once an infestation grows large enough, these critters can find their way into walls. Therefore, if you live in an apartment, you could get bed bugs from a neighbor.

When bed bugs get into your home, they won't immediately take over. They are far more likely to stay in one spot. They want to establish a safe place to live—after all, where can they go if they can't make things work in your house? They don't want to go outdoors. For this reason, early detection can save you a lot of money. It is easy to deal with a small and isolated bed bug infestation.

An even easier solution for bed bugs is not getting them in the first place. Let's look at five simple, easy-to-understand bed bug prevention tips. We'll draw from the facts we've shared thus far.

Five Bed Bug Prevention Tips

Bed bugs exist in many places, including offices, schools, and other residences. Keeping watch for bed bugs signs will help you catch them, but how do you prevent them from coming home with you? Use these quick tips:

• Protect your laundry items. Bed bugs gravitate to fabrics that have touched your skin. Store your laundry in a sealed plastic bag.
• When you open your luggage, use a luggage rack. Doing so will keep bed bugs from entering your luggage from your bed or the floor.
• When you return home from being away, put all your clothing in the wash. You need hot, soapy water and a hot dryer to eliminate bed bugs.
• If you have an item you suspect has bed bugs, put it in the dryer for 30 minutes if it is a dryer-safe item. If it isn't, seal it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for four days. For all other items, consider contacting a licensed professional.
• Always inspect used furniture and household items for black fecal matter, shed skins, and live bed bugs.

These steps are enough to stop bed bugs in most situations, particularly if you're vigilant. Keep watch for bed bug warning signs and perform a quick inspection when spending the night away from home. What do you do if you don't see them? Let's look at how to get rid of bed bugs.