One of the most feared and least understood pest insect species known to science is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as kids with the parting words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs may have started to dine on people at about the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella largely feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human blood when our forebears started dwelling} in bat infested caves.

Before the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace guests in most poor quality homes.

The later years of the 20th century saw pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to budget holiday homes and student lodgings etc.

Many people mistake dust mites, which cannot be seen by the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.

Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after dining on human blood.

Bed bugs usually feed on a target’s blood every seven to ten days, appearing in the hours before dawn and finding their target by smelling the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when nearby their target, they sense body body heat.

Lacking a suitable human meal to dine on they can stay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bugs

Often the first sign of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bedding and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to bed bug bites.

The early the 21st century has seen bed bug numbers growing everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been argued as reasons for the resurgence.

What is positive is that that are now making a real return not only in cheaper quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug reports every year from 1995 to 2001.

One night away in an infested premises is all it requires, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Stretford Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on transport of all kinds so a simple journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring bed bugs to your own home.

They are an difficult pest to eradicate as contrary to popular opinion they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny suitably close to a sleeping human, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both laborious and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the folds of flesh on very overweight people.

They are not a pest that can be tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Contact us on 0800 019 8382