22/03/2010
A review of Bed Bugs in Warrington, Knutsford and Lymm, in 2010
One of the most feared and misunderstood pest species known to mankind is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as kids with the parting rhyme of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs probably started to feed on man at around the period when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human blood when our forebears started dwelling} in bat infested caves.
Up to the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most low quality homes.
The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being mostly restricted to budget holiday hotels and student housing etc.
Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which deinitely.
Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a few milemetres in size and engorged after a feed of human blood.
Bed bugs typically feed on our blood every few days, coming out in the hours before dawn and locating their target by sniffing the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close in on their target, the heat from the body of their intended target.
Without a suitable human host to feed on they can remain in a period of dormancy for periods of up to a year or more.
Signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to their bites.
The early part of this century has seen bed bug infestations expoding all over the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.
What is certain is that that are now making a real fightback not only in lower quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug problems every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested premises is all it needs, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring these bugs to your own home.
They are an difficult pest to eradicate 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 difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on very fat people.
They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.
Telephone Harrier Pest Control on 0800 019 8382
Filed under Technology and Gadgets by Sandy James
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