If your home has bed bugs, you need to find them early to prevent widespread reproduction and establishment. Even though you may not get any illnesses from an infestation, you can suffer other economic and public health issues.
Bed bugs are difficult to find and get rid of. Despite the difficulty, it isn’t impossible to recognize the signs of an infestation. Once you find any signs, you need to act fast and contact a professional pest control service to eliminate them.
Live Bed Bugs
The bed bugs themselves are the most obvious and accurate sign of an infestation. However, you may not spot them easily since they hide until it is time to look for food or if you disturb their hiding place.
Even if you have never seen a bed bug before, you need to look for a flat, apple seed-sized, reddish-brown insect. However, you should be keen not to confuse them with other insects. If you still have doubts after you see an insect you suspect to be a bed bug, find an expert to check whether your house has bed bugs.
Bites
Bed bugs are always active at night and bite you when you are asleep. They pierce your skin, draw blood, and crawl away. You can get uncomfortable at night when they feast on you, but at times, you won’t notice any activities until you wake up.
If you find tiny, red, itchy bumps on your hands, legs, or other exposed body parts, they could be from bed bugs. Bed Bugs are nocturnal insects that feed solely on your blood while asleep. The bites may occur in a pattern that looks like a cluster or rough line.
Bloodstains on Clothes and Bed Linen
When you shift or roll over a bed bug, you may either kill it or squeeze some blood out of it, especially if it has already feasted on your blood. The blood creates a noticeable rust-like or red stain.
Bloodstains can also come directly from bites. Bed bug saliva has an anticoagulant that hinders the formation of blood clots as they feed. In addition, the bitten areas can continue to bleed for a while after they feast hence the appearance of stains on your bed linen.
Fecal Spots and White Spots
Fecal marks are small, dark spots that look like ink from a pen. The fecal matter can occur on linen or other surfaces such as walls and curtains. The color can be black or dark brown and may smell rusty because of the digested human blood that contains iron.
There may be white spots at the dimples of the mattress and furniture joints. The spots could be small bed bugs or eggs. If they are visible from the outside, you should inspect the inside part of the furniture or mattresses for further signs of infestations.
Shed Skins
As bed bugs feast on blood, they grow larger and require more space within the exoskeleton. Hence, they shed their shells to give room for expansion.
Shed skins or husks are easier to see than the bed bugs themselves. If you have abandoned husks, there are high chances that you have a bed bug infestation. The husks are yellow and translucent, and you can find them in places where the bugs hatch and propagate — curtain folds, holes, cracks, mattress seams, electrical outlets, wooden furniture, and the like are ideal spots.
Odor
A musty smell like a damp towel is a common sign of an infestation. The smell comes from pheromones, a chemical that bugs release in response to danger or threat. Usually, the smell is faint when the number of bugs is small but becomes stronger with an increase in number.
Conclusion
Whereas clean-ups can control bed bug infestation, you need chemical treatment to eliminate them. Nevertheless, an expert can go a long way to exterminate the bed bugs. If you suspect that your home has bed bugs, contact EcoNet Pest Control for safe and effective control of bed bugs and other pests.
