A review of Bed Bugs in Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley in 2010
One of the most feared and least understood pest species known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped off to sleep at night as youngsters with the parting words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to predate on people at around the period we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella mainly feed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human beings when our forebears started dwelling} in bat infested caves.
Up to the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most low quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest operatives dealing with very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being generally restricted to low quality holiday hotels and student housing etc.
Many people mistake dust mites, which cannot be seen by the naked, with bed bugs which most certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and very swollen after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs regularly feed on human blood every seven to ten days, emerging in the hours before dawn and finding their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when closing in on their target, the heat from the body of their intended target.
Without a suitable human host to feed on they can lie dormant for periods of up to a year or more.
Often the first sign of a bed bug presence are spots of blood on sheets and on the edges of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug numbers growing across the planet, the easy availability of overseas and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.
What is known is that that are now making a real resurgence not only in low quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested hotel is all it needs, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple trip home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They hide in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on very fat people.
They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
Telephone Harrier Pest Prevention on 0800 019 8382
