Category Archives: Bed Bug Remedies

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Cimex lectularius L.

Bed bugs are flat, reddish-brown, oval insects up to 4 to 5 mm long or the size of an apple seed. Swollen and reddish after a blood meal.

Bed bugs onlyfeed on blood. Under cool conditions, bed bugs have been able to survive up to a year without a meal.

They prefer to be more active at night when the host is asleep.

Found in cracks and crevices, including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames. Often found in hotels, where they can travel from room to room and in visitors luggage or other personal belongings such as purses and briefcases.

Females can deposit one to five eggs a day, and may lay 200 to 500 eggs in a lifetime. Under normal room temperatures and with an adequate food supply, they can live for more than 300 days.

There are many possible signs of bed bug activity. The first would be seeing the bugs. Adult bed bugs are about the shape and size of an apple seed. A second sign would be case skins.As thejuvenilebugs grow, they shed their skins, discovery of which can indicate their presence.

After feeding, bed bugs return to their harborage to hide. They eventuallydefecatein these areas, which appears as black to brown stains on porous surfaces or black to brown mounds on nonporous surfaces.

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Bed Bugs: How to Get Rid of Bedbugs – Orkin.com

The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has long been a pest feeding on blood, causing itchy bites and generally irritating their human hosts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) all consider bed bugs a public health pest. However, unlike most public health pests, bed bugs are not known to transmit or spread disease.

They can, however, cause other public health problems, so its important to pay close attention to preventing and controlling bed bugs.

Experts believe the recent increase in bed bugs in the United States may be due to more travel, lack of knowledge about preventing infestations, increased resistance of bed bugs to pesticides, and ineffective pest control practices.

The good news is that there are ways to control bed bugs. Getting good, solid information is the first step in both prevention and control. While there is no chemical quick fix, there are effective strategies to control bed bugs involving both non-chemical and chemical methods.

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Bites on the skin are a poor indicator of a bed bug infestation. Bed bug bites can be misidentified, which gives the bed bugs time to spread to other areas of the house. Bed bug bites can look like bites from other insects (such as mosquitoes or spiders), rashes (such as eczema or fungal infections), or even hives. Some people do not react to bed bug bites at all.

A far more accurate way to identify a possible infestation is to look for physical signs of bed bugs. For example, spots on bedding, as described below, are one of the earliest and most accurate methods.

When cleaning, changing bedding, or staying away from home, look for:

If the room is heavily infested, you may find bed bugs in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains, in drawer joints, in electrical receptacles and appliances, under loose wall paper and wall hangings -- even in the head of a screw. Since bed bugs are only about the width of a credit card, they can squeeze into really small hiding spots. If a crack will hold a credit card, it could hide a bed bug.

Canvas strap of old box spring covering that is housing adults, skin castings, feces, and eggs. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Louis Sorkin)

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Identifying Bed Bug Infestations - Bed Bugs | Pesticides | US EPA

Perhaps New Hampshires famous motto Live Free or Die will be slightly amended the state just passed a new law which means tenants and landlords may have an easier time living bed bug free.

Like other pieces of bed bug legislation were aware of, the new law, which we told you about when it was NH House Bill 482, isnt perfect. We outlined some concerns about it in that earlier story.

The New Hampshire law, which was passed in June and goes into effect January 1, 2014, stipulates that landlords have to pay for bed bug treatment initially. (This helps make sure everything happens quickly.)

However, the law allows landlords to later charge a tenant for having their own unit treated (with an installment payment plan if needed), if that tenant is considered responsible for bringing bed bugs into the building. That is fair, I think, but (as usual in these scenarios) I have some concerns about how it will be determined who is responsible.

As HB582 notes:

there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the tenant is responsible for the infestation if during the 6 months prior to the inception of the defendants tenancy, and throughout the defendants tenancy, there were no reports, to the landlord or a municipal health or housing authority, of the presence of bed bugs in the defendants unit or the dwelling units of a multiple-unit building that are adjacent to or directly above or below the defendants unit, or by previous tenants in a single-family home.

In other words, the law seems to suggest that if no other tenants report their bed bug problems, the tenant who does report bed bugs is assumed to be responsible.

This is faulty reasoning, because there are lots of possible reasons for those adjacent neighbors not to come forward and report their own problem with bed bugs.

We know for a fact that some people will have bed bugs and not notice, sometimes for a long time. More often, perhaps, some tenants will fear repercussions (not least of which, having to pay for treatment they may be unable to afford) and may stay silent. Some admit they are willing to put up with bed bugs rather than pay for treatment. And then there are the tenants who stealthily treat their own units rather than report bed bugs even though many DIY methods (like aerosols and foggers) make it more likely the bed bugs spreadto neighbors.

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bed bug news, information, activism, and support — Got bed bugs ...

Bedbug facts Bedbugs are small, oval insects that feed by sucking blood from humans or animals. Bedbugs do not fly. Bedbugs can live anywhere in the home. They can live in cracks in furniture or in any type of textile, including upholstered furniture. They are most common in beds, including the mattress, box springs, and bed frames. Bedbugs are most active at night. They may bite any exposed areas of skin while an individual is sleeping. Common locations for bedbug bites are the face, neck, hands, and arms. A bedbug bite is painless and is generally not noticed. The bites may be mistaken for a rash of another cause. Small, flat, or raised bumps on the skin are the most common sign. Symptoms include redness, swelling, and itching. Typically, no treatment is required for bedbug bites. If itching is severe, steroid creams or oral antihistamines may be used for symptom relief. Fecal stains, egg cases, and shed skins (exuviae) of bedbugs in crevices and cracks on or near beds are suggestive that bedbugs may be present, but only observing the bugs themselves can confirm an active infestation. A professional pest-control company may be required to help identify and remove bedbugs from the home. What are bedbugs? What do bedbugs look like?

Bedbugs are small, oval non-flying insects that belong to the insect family Cimicidae, which includes three species that bite people. Adult bedbugs reach 5 mm-7 mm in length, while nymphs (juveniles) are as small as 1.5 mm. Bedbugs have flat bodies and may sometimes be mistaken for ticks or small cockroaches. Bedbugs feed by sucking blood from humans or animals. Adult bedbugs are reddish brown in color, appearing more reddish after feeding on a blood meal. Nymphs are clear in color and appear bright red after feeding. The wings of bedbugs are vestigial, so they cannot fly. However, they are able to crawl rapidly. Temperatures between 70 F-80 F are most favorable for bedbugs, allowing them to develop into adults most rapidly and produce up to three generations per year.

Reviewed by William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR on 6/21/2013

Bed Bugs - Initial Symptoms Question: What were your initial symptoms for bed bugs?

Bed Bugs - Treatments Question: Were you able to effectively treat and rid your home of bed bugs?

Bed Bugs - In Hotels Question: Please describe your experience with bed bugs.

Bed Bugs - Prevention Question: How have you prevented bed bugs from recurring in your home?

Bed Bugs - Identification Question: Have you seen actual bed bugs? If so, please describe them, along with your experience at home or at a hotel.

Medical Author:

Melissa Conrad Stppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Bed Bugs Bites, Signs, in Hotels, Treatment, Symptoms - MedicineNet

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Looking for the best treatment for bed bugs? Youve come to the right place. Here at Treatment Of Bed Bugs we will provide you with all the information and advice you need to get rid of an infestation of these horrid pests in your home.

Adult Bed Bug

Bed bugs are around 1/4 inch long when fully grown, reddish brown in colour and their bodies are flat and oval shaped. The young are basically smaller replicas of their parents and bed bug eggs are frequently likened to grains of rice due to their size, shape and color.

Over time bed bugs have moved away from infesting bats in caves and birds nests and started invading our homes. Bed bugs live on blood and will feed from any mammal (including your pets!) these days the most likely hosts are human. They are nocturnal so in the day time they can be found hiding out in all sorts of places however, your bed and items close to it are usually a favourite because it keeps them closer to their victim.

Usually the first sign of a bed bug infestation you will be aware of are the bites which may appear on your body. These will appear as itchy, red bumps or welts. If you discover such a rash it is very important that you get a proper diagnosis before you begin any kind of bed bugs treatment remember other insects and some skin conditions can also cause a similar rash.

If YouVe Got Bed Bugs Weve Got The Treatment!

The only way to know for sure if you have bed bugs is to go hunting for them! This is probably not the most pleasant of tasks but it has to be done. There are various ways you can do this however the simplest is to arm yourself with a good flash light and perhaps a magnifying glass and start searching. The bed is probably the best place to start but leave nothing and nowhere unchecked even the most obscure places.

You are looking for blood smears, faecal marks, cast skins, eggs and live bugs.

Learn how to find bed bugs

Link:
Treatment of Bed Bugs In Six Simple Steps