Bed Bugs Pictures

Identifying early signs of bed bug infestation can be extremely useful in getting rid of bed bugs soon. As the name suggests, bed bugs most commonly reside around beds, mattresses, box springs and bed frames.

These pesky pests stay hidden around areas where you sleep so that they just need to travel up to 100 feet from their hideouts to enjoy blood meal from your body as soon as you fall asleep.

Nonetheless, the infestation is usually not limited to such areas. It is also likely to involve other furniture items such as tables, curtains, underneath carpets and inside wicker furniture as well.

How to spot bed bug infestations?

Infestation by bed bugs can be detected by carefully looking for tiny, reddish brown bedbugs and their small, rice-grain like pale white eggs in areas like:

• dark cracks and crevices in walls, bedding frames, baseboards

• cracks in wallpaper, especially near bed

• within phones and other objects placed near bed

• electrical outlets

• cubicle dividers, filing cabinets, drawers, window casings

• corners of dressing tables and bedside cabinets

• under couches

• behind picture frames, wall clocks

• edges of carpets, floor cracks

• folds of curtains

• seams and tears in mattresses

Other bed bug infestation signs and symptoms are:

• bed bug bites on skin

• small dark colored dots on bedding materials (best observed on white linens); these spots can be blood stains, fecal matter, molted skin of bed bugs

• characteristic musky, sweet smell can be present in case of heavy infestations of bed bugs

You can use bed bug infestation detection glue traps or double-sided tape method to detect bed bugs by trapping them. The latter technique involves placing a double sided tape along bottom of walls for a few days and then checking it for trapped bugs. Using sniff dogs to detect bedbugs is another popular method.

How does bed bug infestation spread?

These hitch hikers can spread through luggage bags, computer bags, gym bags, clothing and even pets. However, rest assured that these nasty creatures do not reside on human body.

Bed bug infestations spread through severely infested multi-unit dwellings, schools, daycares, dormitories, laundry rooms, public libraries, hotels, thrift shops and even travel through trains, planes or buses.

In case of buildings, these parasitic insects spread to adjoining apartments through vents, pipes and other such common passages. Moreover, risk of infestation increases manifold when you purchase second hand furniture from used furniture stores.

Here’s a video showing bed bug infestation very clearly.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbLYOh5hA0]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 at 5:24 am and is filed under Bed Bugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.