You may have heard that recent years brought a resurgence in bed bugs, but how much do you really understand about this household pest? There are many misconceptions about this tiny pest. Educating yourself and knowing what to look for including signs of bed bug infestations, bed bug identification, and other pertinent bed bug facts is the best way to protect your home and family from bed bugs in Florida.
Bed bugs are a common target for Panama City, FL pest control, so here are a few facts about bed bugs you need to know from identification to detection to elimination. Armed with the correct information you are certain to minimize the threat of a bed bug infestation.
Bed Bug Identification
What do bed bugs look like? Bed bugs are flat, oval-shaped insects about the size of an apple seed. A Google search will quickly provide multiple pictures to assist you with bed bug identification. They are most oftentimes brownish in color but swell up and take on a reddish color after feeding.
Their eggs are quite small, merely the size of a pinhead, and are a pearly white color which makes them hard to see against a white surface. Bed bugs are wingless insects. While they cannot fly, they are speedy and move rapidly across surfaces.
Bed Bug Facts
Thanks to their minute size, bed bugs can easily hide undetected in furniture, clothing, and small crevices. Many people mistakenly believe bed bug infestations are due to uncleanliness, but it is their ability to hide that allows them to spread far and wide. Bed bugs spend the majority of their time in dark, hidden areas of the home which is why they go undetected at times.
As their name implies, bed bugs frequently take cover in mattresses, box springs, and headboards where they can feed on people and animals as they sleep. Though bedrooms are the most common living space for bed bugs they can also be found in other areas of the home where people sit or lay including living rooms. When bed bugs hide in clothing and luggage, they can spread outside of the home.
Signs of Bed Bugs Bug Facts
Here is how to recognize bed bugs in your home. There are multiple signs of bed bugs that Florida residents can look out for. The first of these are bites on the skin. Bed bug bites are not painful, but they can become itchy. When bed bugs bite, they simultaneously inject fluids into the skin preventing the bite from being felt when it happens. In fact, most bed bug bite marks are not even noticed for several days after their occurrence.
Bites can occur on any exposed area of skin and could easily get mistaken for mosquito or flea bites. Although it is rare, bed bug bites do occasionally result in an allergic reaction. Rest assured that bed bug bites are not known to spread disease to people though they do create discomfort and can cause itching, irritation, and loss of sleep.
Other common signs of a bed bug infestation include shed exoskeletons left behind by bed bugs after molting, blood-stained furniture, linens and mattresses, dark spots of bed bug excrement, and musty odors. Understanding bed bug identification and having awareness of the signs of bed bugs is crucial to protecting your home from these tiny pests.
Bed Bug Awareness and Elimination
Bed bugs are virtually impossible to eliminate on your own which is why it is imperative to contact the professionals at Arrow Pest Service as soon as you notice signs of bed bugs in your Panama City home. The most effective solution for eradicating bed bugs is the combination of early detection and hiring a professional, experienced team like Arrow Pest Service to treat the infestation expeditiously. Not only are bed bugs excellent at hiding but they can survive for long periods of time, several months in fact, without a blood meal.
The most common way bed bugs spread in Panama City homes is by concealing themselves in everything from folded laundry to furniture to bedding and then being moved from place to place by an unsuspecting person. Contact Arrow Pest Service for safe and effective bed bug treatments and to prevent the spread of bed bugs in your home.