How Long Have Bed Bugs Been Around?
Bed bugs have caused problems for humans for thousands of years. As
time passed by, humans could not bear the annoyance they encountered
with these small insects and they tried many ways to control and
exterminate the pests. Different methodologies were suggested such as
the use of alcohol, oil, plants with microscopic hooks, woven baskets,
pesticides and dust.
But no matter how hard you tried to contain the problem, they would
always come back, even more so as the weather became warmer. This has
been a dilemma until recent years, when more methods to get rid of bed
bugs have emerged onto the market.
Why the Resurgence in Bed Bug Populations?
A lot of people are wondering why bed bugs are suddenly making the
news again and becoming a common problem for many households. It is
unclear how exactly bed bugs appear in your homes; however, it is
believed that frequent traveling, obtaining second-hand furniture from a
different home, and a resistance to pesticides contribute to the
resurgence of these species.
There are several reasons why bed bugs are once again growing in
numbers. One reason is that bed bugs were not totally exterminated in
the first place.
In fact, the people with infestations had performed treatments
in the past that never worked. Their method in the past to treat bed
bug infestations was by throwing away any furniture that was infested
with bugs or eggs.
The mistake here is that people just throw the furniture away,
without killing any bed bugs eggs that might hatch in the furniture and
crawl back into the house.
Throwing out bug-infested furniture also results in community bed bug
infestations, because people searching for free furniture on the side
of the road may see a perfectly good couch and want to take it home with
them. Because they are not aware of a pest problem that is lurking
silently in the furniture, they will probably end up with bed bugs in
their house too as soon as the eggs hatch.
Bed Bugs Are Wittier Than We Think!
Another reason why bed bugs are becoming a recurrent problem is that
quite a few people who have bed bugs in the past have only treated
certain parts of their house that they thought were infested.
The mistake here is that people underestimate the wit of bed bugs.
These bugs hide in safe places where the extermination methods cannot
reach them, and they move fast that they can easily scatter to a
different part of the house where treatment is not being applied,
therefore surviving the extermination process.
Though it seems like a never-ending battle to get rid of bed bugs,
there is hope! This article will help you learn how to identify bed
bugs, how to treat the bites, and how to battle and prevent the
spreading of bed bugs inside your home and outside of your home with
modern methods that have been proven to be successful.
How Do Bed Bugs Breed?
Warm and humid conditions support the breeding and survival of bed
bugs. The life cycle of a bed bug from egg to adult can take four to
five weeks. Cooler conditions haven been known to shorten the life cycle
of bed bugs, but then again, some of these insects may adapt to the
cold temperature to survive even longer.
The breeding of bed bugs is a harsh process for the female. The male
slashes or pierces the abdomen of the female to inject his sperm.
Fertilization occurs at the ovaries of the female bed bug and after the
introduction of the sperm, the female leaves the scene to avoid further
injuries. This process is called traumatic insemination.
Male bed bugs will also attempt to mate with other male and slash the
abdomen to inject its sperm. They cannot distinguish males from females
because they only base attraction on body size. Males ward off other
males that are trying to pierce their abdomen by producing alarm
pheromones.
How Do Bed Bugs Develop?
There are three stages of bed bug development: eggs, nymphs, and
adults. The female bed bug lays three to five speck-like eggs a day,
reaching an astonishing two hundred eggs during its lifetime. Without
magnification, these tiny eggs are very difficult to identify.
A sticky residue enables the egg to adhere to surfaces, and the eggs
will mature there undisturbed. The eggs are commonly “cemented†by
this sticky residue on wood, paper, cardboard or fabric, and they
sometimes look like a yellow white bean with a lid.
Eggs are laid in clusters and the females will stop laying the eggs
after 11 days, or possibly more if they decide to rest and feed.
It takes six to ten days for the eggs to develop and when they hatch
they produce one-millimeter nymphs. These nymphs resemble the adult bed
bugs, but they have lighter color. Nymphs, upon reaching maturity, molt
or shed their skin around five times before becoming an adult. It begins
to look for a victim to feed on as soon as it gets out of its egg.
The nymphs can survive up to 3 months without a meal and the adults
can live from six to eleven months without feeding on blood. Bed bugs
are most active during the night and they prefer to hide close to their
hosts during the day.
What are Some of the Most Common Sources of Bed Bugs?
Furniture that is made of fabric and wood are most likely to be the
breeding grounds for these bugs. This is why mattresses are the most
common sources of bed bugs. These parasitic organisms are so small that
you can hardly see them with your naked eye.
Bed bugs are also very good at hiding because they have adapted to
squeezing themselves into crevices and spaces so that they will not be
easily disturbed. Small dark spots are the usual hiding places for bed
bugs.
Because of their ability to get into cracks and crevices to hide from
the pesticides or treatments, many bed bug problems are not completely
eradicated during an extermination process. Therefore, it is important
to thoroughly check for bed bugs in any cracks, holes, and crevices and
apply treatments in other places as needed.
Used Furniture
It seems to be the trend nowadays to buy secondhand furniture due to
the rising costs of buying new furniture. However tempting buying used
furniture may be, and even if you think they can still be repaired, you
have to make sure that you inspect it very closely to check for any bed
bugs or eggs. Secondhand furniture may have hundreds of eggs and bed
bugs that are waiting to find their next victim.
You could decide to choose to buy secondhand metal or plastic
furniture, but if you really want that wooden or cushioned furniture,
you should have it steamed thoroughly or sprayed with chemicals to kill
any possible bed bugs and eggs before moving the furniture into your
house.
Travel
You can get bed bugs from just about anywhere. These small bugs are
opportunists, and they patiently wait as long as they need to until a
victim comes along that they can hitch a ride to their next destination
where they can breed and feed. They can survive over a year while
waiting for their next meal.
Students coming home from college may bring these insects with them.
Airplanes, buses, and other public transportation methods are also not
exempt from these insects. Even five-star hotels are not spared from bed
bug infestations. If a person stays in a hotel, bed bugs may be
unknowingly carried to the next destination on the person or their
belongings.
Bed bugs can be transported on many different items such as
furniture, clothing, shoes, hats, and other belongings. Pets can also
carry bed bugs on their fur and into your home. Animals such as bats,
rodents, raccoons, or birds roosting on the roof of the house may also
contribute to a bed bug infestation.
Moving to a New Home
If you are in the real estate market and looking to buy a home, it is
important to know that houses that have been unoccupied for more than a
year have a lower risk for the presence of bed bugs because bed bugs
can only last about 18 months without feeding.
If the house that you’re thinking of buying has recently had people
living in it that most likely did not properly take care of the home,
you should consider fumigating the house just in case there are bed
bugs.
