Bed Bug infestations in Manchester, Trafford, Stretford and Cheshire in 2010
July 28, 2010 by Resident Author Filed under The Whole Nine Yards
One of the most hated and least understood pest species known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as youngsters with the parting rhyme of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs most probably started to feed 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 probable that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human blood when our ancestors started staying} in bat infested caves.
Before the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace guests in most slum quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies called out to very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap holiday hotels and student accomadation etc.
Many people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on a target’s blood every seven to ten days, emerging in the early hours of the morning and homing in on their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when closing in on their target, body heat.
Lacking a suitable human host to dine on they can stay in a period of dormancy for periods of up to 18 months.
Often the first sign of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the corners of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to bed bug bites.
The early the 21st century has seen bed bug reports growing across the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been blamed for the resurgence.
What is sure is that that are now making a real comeback not only in cheaper quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested premises 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, trains and buses so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes to spread the infestation to your own home.
They are an difficult pest to deal with as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny anywhere close to a sleeping human being, 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 creases of flesh on flabby people.
They are not a pest that can be successfully tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Call Harrier Pest Prevention on 01257 230637
