Background

Bed bugs remain a top pest concern in 2024 for the public and pest management alike.  Return to school and work resulting from relaxed COVID restrictions, renewed travelling, and a steady return of business-related hospitality bookings all add to the bed bug burden have already experienced double dgit increases in frequency.

Historically, the common bed bug has been a pest by feeding on human blood, causing itchy bites, irritations, and mental anxiety.  While they have not been proven to transmit disease, they are an important public health pest and nuisance.  However, reports indicate that bed bugs do emit significant amounts of histamine, an asthmatic trigger that would appear to have significant health consequences.  Further, bed bugs alter the bacterial environment surrounding them and this phenomenon lasts for months after they have been removed; another factor that may add to asthmatic symptom worsening.  Confounding the situation is that not everyone reacts to bed bug bites…about 30% of the public do not demonstrate welts or markings once bit.  The elderly, newborns and those with compromised immune systems are candidates for not reacting to bites but are all subject to secondary skin infections from scratching. Bed bugs are notorious hitchhikers and are often introduced into your home on your clothing, luggage, furniture (especially antiques and second-hand items), backpacks, shoes, and more.

Finding bed bugs, especially when their numbers are few is not an easy task, and often best left to the pros here at Millette Pest Control – we are trained to detect low level infestations. 

Although adults are visible to the naked eye, they typically hide away in small, dark cracks and crevices and are nocturnal; coming out at night for a blood meal when a host (you) is available.

Bed Bug Basics

  • Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed (3/16 – 1/4 inch long).
  • Body shape is classically long and brown, with a flat, oval-shaped (if not fed recently); balloon-like, reddish-brown, and more elongated (if fed recently).
  • Physical characteristics include a beak with three segments; antennae that have four parts; wings that are not used for flying; and short, golden-colored hairs.
  • May exude a smelly, “musty-sweetish” odor produced through glands on the lower side of the body.
  • Young bed bugs (also called nymphs or instars) are smaller, translucent, or whitish yellow in color; and if not recently fed, can be nearly invisible to the naked eye because of coloring and size.
  • Bed bug eggs are tiny, the size of a pinhead; pearl-white in color; and marked by an eye spot if more than five days old.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of a bed bug is shown in the photograph below. During its lifetime, a bed bug will go through the following stages (Starting from the top (egg), moving clockwise):

Sizes include eggs (4/100”); 1st stage nymph (6/100”); 2nd stage nymph (8/100”); 3rd stage nymph (1/10”); 4th stage nymph (1/9”); 5th stage nymph (1/6”); unfed and fed adult female and male.

Five Major Signs

One way to determine whether you have bed bugs is to first look for the physical signs of the bed bugs or their remnants in your bedding.

  • Live bed bugs themselves
  • Dark spots 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch in diameter.  Some spots appear dark, and others look faded as though a magic marker had made the spot and the ink bled. Other signs of bed bugs may accompany these fecal spots, or they may occur by themselves.
  • Cast skins (molting) that the nymphs shed as they grow through their 5 juvenile stages.
  • Red spots (blood droplets) or reddish stains as a result from crushed bed bugs, often occurring while sleeping.
  • Tiny, 1/32nd of an inch long (1 mm) white elongated eggs or eggshells, which had been glued to a surface.

Check the Bedding

Use a strong flashlight to examine the bedding.  First focus on the two corners at the head of the bed.  Pull back the blanket, sheet, fitted sheet, and mattress pad (if any) looking for signs of bed bugs between each of the items of bedding.  Examine the rolled edges of the mattress, tufts, seams and any labels or stickers.  Lift the mattress off the box spring (if there is one) at the front corners looking for sign of bed bugs.  Otherwise, if the mattress rests on a frame, look at the joints and seams of the frame carefully.   Examine the inner edges of the bed skirt, especially at the head of the bed.

If there is a headboard, check behind by sliding a credit card or other thin device between the wall and board.  Exhaling at the point between headboard and wall can agitate any bed bugs as they are attracted by CO2 (carbon dioxide).

Other Signs of Bed Bugs

  • People may report bites, but they are a poor indicator because many (~30%) do not respond to bed bug bites and there are many causes for “bites”.  A bite/welt cannot be definitively diagnosed by a healthcare practitioner as being the result of a bed bug.
  • If the infestation is widespread, a sickly-sweet odor may be noted.
  • Signs of bed bugs will also be noted beyond the bed and bedding (e.g., upholstered furniture, draperies, baseboard molding, etc.) if the infestation is large.  The rule of thumb is that 85% of bed bugs generally reside within a 5-foot radius from the bed.

Call-In a Professional

You believe you are being bit and have inspected your bedroom thoroughly.  You can’t find anything but are still worried every evening you retire.  The best decision possible: call-in the Millette Pest Control team – we can recommend utilizing a variety of tools and techniques.  Let us take a closer look at some we may suggest:

  • Visual Inspections –This is a time-intensive process and the lesser the problem, the more difficult to uncover a problem, if it exists.  Probably the most common method for monitoring bed bugs uses a flashlight, magnifying glass, and sometimes more advanced tools like a UV light to detect residual blood staining from crushed bed bugs.
  • Canine Detection – Many pest professionals use independent bed bug detection companies that utilize dogs specifically trained to detect the scent of bed bugs. Studies have proven that they are quite effective, reportedly close to 90% effective as compared to 30% for human visual inspections. They are, however, a much larger expense than many of the other inspection tools available. Bed bug sniffing dogs may be an unrealistic option for a single-family homeowner due to cost but can be a reliant tool for low level infestations or when screening larger areas.
  • Bed Bug Interceptors – These traps work when bed bugs enter and fall inside of the trap and are unable to escape. Detecting a bed bug upon inspection of the interceptor will alert you to a potential problem. There are a variety of interceptors on the market today for use. When using a passive monitor (one without an attractant bed bug ‘lure’), placement is critically important to its effectiveness. Downsides include that some households may not want a trap under their bed legs or in an open area that children, pets, or guests may discover. Newer variations now include WiFi-enabled devices that can signal when a bug enters the trap.
  • Mattress Encasements – protect the bedding from fluids/stains and can assist with making a visual inspection easier. Just as the name suggests, encasements enclose the mattress and/or box spring completely. Ideally, this eliminates bedding as a hiding place for bed bugs assuming the encasement stays fully intact. While preventing bed bugs from escaping when placed on an infested mattress, encasements have no effect on new bed bugs that enter the room.  Common problems encountered are small rips and tears that result during installation or daily use. Once a rip or tear of an encasement takes place, repair is not an effective solution.  Left in place but damaged, bed bugs now have a new and often overlooked harborage site inside of the encasement.  As bed bugs can last upwards of 6 months or more without a blood meal, the use of encasements as a control method is limited to those few covers that remain intact over constant use.
  • Active Mattress Liners – Installed like a fitted sheet on either mattress or box spring, these liners kill bed bugs for two years.  This product is treated with an active ingredient that first causes bed bugs to stop feeding and females to stop laying eggs within minutes of contact. They continue to work if ripped or torn as they do not trap bed bugs inside but rather kill them though contact.  While often overlooked as an inspection tool, active liners will alert you to the presence of bed bugs when dead bed bug(s) turn up on the liner or in its vicinity. In addition, bed bugs that contact the impregnated fabric usually release fecal contents, easily detected on the fabric’s light background (e.g., like a black marker smudge). 

Bed bugs are often neither simple to find nor treat effectively.  While homeowners will sometimes attempt to self-treat, their results are typically unsuccessful and may be very frustrating.  Or worse…failed attempts can amplify the problem.  Leave it to us to inspect and resolve the problem…and of course, offer tips and guides to assist in preventing bringing bed bugs from entering your home in the first instance.

Call Millette Pest Control today. We
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860.274.9503 For a Free Estimate – click here.

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