To completely eliminate a bed bug infestation from a dwelling it is necessary to treat more than just the room where someone is getting bitten by bed bugs at night. Most of the bedbugs will be in the room close to the person getting bitten, but they can travel quite quickly across floors, walls and ceilings (check-out the video link below). They get spread around the home when we move items such as; clothing or any other item that might have been kept in an area with a bed bug infestation. Thus, bed bugs are also commonly found in the laundry room and the living room. If bed bugs in the living room find someone sleeping on the couch, that room also will quickly become infested. Thus, the best way to totally eliminate a bed bug infestation is to thoroughly treat the problem room along with all surrounding areas.Click our bed bug treatment page for more bedbug treatment information.Call us at 1-800-362-2687 anytime between 8:00AM and 8:00PM for any questions or pricing information.

Bedbug Identification

Adult bed bugs are reddish-brown to all brownish in color. They are oval-shaped, flattened, and about 1/5 inch to 3/16 inch long. Their flat shape enables them to easily hide in small cracks and crevices. The body becomes more swollen, elongated, and dark red after getting a blood meal. Bed bugs have a beak-like piercing-sucking mouthpart system. Newly hatched nymphs are nearly colorless, becoming brownish as they mature. Nymphs have a similar appearance as the adults, eggs are white and around 1/32 inch long.
Note: Bed bugs resemble a couple of other closely related insects, such as bat bugs. In Ohio, bat bugs are more common than bed bugs, but in Massachusetts, bed bugs are far more common. Bat bugs prefer bats, but if the preferred host animals are removed and the bat bugs are left untreated, they will seek out a human host. If you visit or live in a building with a bat infestation, this could be a possible source of bites.

Bedbug Life Cycle – Eggs adhere to surfaces. Eggs hatch in 6 to 17 days, and the nymphs will immediately begin to feed. They require a blood meal in order to molt and grow. Bed bugs reach maturity after around five molts. Development from (egg to adult) is affected by temperature and takes about 21 days at 86° F to 110 days at 66° F. Bed bugs can go without feeding for 80 to 170 days; older stages can survive longer without feeding than younger ones. Adults have been known to have survived without food for as long as 540 days. A bed bug can consume six times its weight in blood and the feeding process can take 3 to 10 minutes. Adults normally live about 10-15 months and there can be 3 to 4 generations of bed bugs per year.

Bedbug Habits

Bed bugs are fast moving insects. They feed mostly at night when their host is asleep. They use their sharp beak to pierce the skin of a host. Then, they inject a salivary fluid containing an anticoagulant that helps them obtain blood. Nymphs may become engorged with blood within three minutes. A full-grown adult bed bug usually feeds for ten to fifteen minutes. After becoming elongated after a blood meal, they then crawl away to a hiding place to digest the meal. Their sole source of food is the blood meal they take at night, either from humans or bats during the day. Bed bugs hide during the day. They are usually hidden in dark, protected sites. They seem to prefer fabric, wood, and paper surfaces. They are usually in close proximity to the host, although they can quickly travel far distances. Bed bugs initially can be found about in tufts, seams, and folds of the mattresses, later spreading to crevices in the bed frame and in the box-spring. In heavier infestations, they will occupy hiding places farther from the bed. They may hide in window or doorframes, floor cracks, baseboards, furniture, electrical boxes, and under the tack board of wall-to-wall carpeting. Bed bugs also often crawl upward to hide in pictures, wall hangings, loosened wallpaper, cracks in plaster, drapery pleats, and ceiling moldings.