15 Facts About Bed Bugs

When people hear the word “bed bugs”, it is enough to send them running away just at the thought of blood-sucking insects creeping on them while asleep. Bed bugs can be very difficult to get rid once they have infested a home or building. They are small pests that hide during daylight in cracks, mattress, box spring, headboard, and other tight places where it makes it difficult to see them. But in order to get rid of bed bugs, you need to know the facts.

1. Bed bugs are blood sucking insects that feed on warm-blooded animals, usually human.

2. Bed bugs are brown in color and quickly change to dark red after sucking blood.

3. Bed bugs are considered nocturnal insects since they attack only at night when everybody is asleep.

4. Bed bugs are like mosquitoes, they are attracted to the warmth and presence of carbon dioxide. That’s how they find you in the dark.

5. Bed bugs use two tubes when they suck blood from you. One tube releases saliva which contains anesthetics so you won’t feel the bite and anticoagulants to keep the blood flowing. The second tube is for sucking blood.

6. It is the bed bug’s saliva that causes swelling and redness of the skin. The bite of a bed bug is sometimes confused with poison ivy and spider bites.

7. Female bed bugs can lay up to 5 eggs a day and 500 eggs throughout its lifetime. The eggs hatch in 1-2 weeks depending on how warm or cold the room is.

8. Bed bugs can survive for a year without blood. This is one of the reasons they are difficult to stop.

9. Bed bugs take about 5 minutes to finish a blood meal.

10. Bed bugs are not indicators of unkept or dirty homes and buildings. Bed bugs will infect the humblest of homes or the most extravagant hotels as long as there is the means.

11. Although their bites leave the skin swollen, red, and itchy, bed bugs do not transmit pathogens or diseases… but still annoying.

12. Bed bugs are very good hitchhikers and are usually unknowingly transported by luggage, clothing, belongings, or even the human itself as they travel. This is how infestation starts.

13. Adult bed bugs are 4-5mm in length, flat, and oval-shaped. Just like a sunflower seed. This makes it easy for them to hide and nest on cracks or crevices anywhere.

14. Bed bugs have been around for centuries, dating as far back as 17th century.

15. Bed bugs can travel as far as 100 feet to feed, but usually remain in bedrooms.