Bed Bugs Wigan and Leigh.
May 17, 2012
by Francis
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One of the most hated and least understood pests known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off 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 probably started to predate on man at about the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella mostly feed on bats and it is a fair chance that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human blood when our ancestors started dwelling} in bat infested caves.
Up to the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most slum quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest operatives dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to budget holiday homes and student accomadation etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which certainly.
Adult bedbugs are reddish 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 few days, coming out in the hours before dawn and locating their target by detecting the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when closing in on their target, they sense infra red heat.
In the absence of a suitable human host to feed on they can remain dormant for periods of up to 18 months.
Bed Bugs
Often the first sign of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the corners of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug reports expoding everywhere on the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.
What is certain is that that are now making a real return not only in cheaper quality housing but top class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bugs infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
One night stay in an infested bed is all it requires, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Stretford Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be all it takes 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 live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both tricky and time consuming. They have even been discovered 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 needed.
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