Bed bugs can spread an entire building if they are not eliminated from the smaller areas. They can live as long as 6 months to 1 year without feeding on blood but definitely create havoc in health and house. Detecting them is thus imperative.
Here are the 5 top warning signs of Bed Bugs in your house-
Blood stains:- The areas of bed bug infestation will often have blood stains such as the bed covers, pillow cases or mattresses. The feces of bed bugs have blood in them and the spots by feces are discolored by a dark brown colour. The blood stains on the sheets are mostly due to scratches due to the bites of the bed bugs. However, these blood stains are mostly confused with the scratches made by any other bug bites or maybe due to some wound.
NOTE: When the blood stains also have black feces, you can be sure of a bed bug infestation.
Odour:- The bed bugs release a smell that is somewhat like that of a wet dirty towel smell, over riped raspberries or a locker room smell. The smell is pungent and sickening. The smell keeps increasing with the increase in the number of bugs. The smell is however, not a reliable way of finding out a bed bug infestation. It is definitely though, a way to let the bed bug sniffing dog to point out the hiding places of the bugs when clear evidences are not found. When the smell is very much prominent, you can be sure that the infestation has become extreme.
NOTE: The bugs communicate with each other by secreting chemical signals that release odour.
Insect parts:- A bed bug goes through 5 stages of development before it becomes a full grown adult. They shed their cuticle as they go from one instar to the next. The cuticles or casings when shed, at every new stage of development, can be found lying on the floors or beds or sometimes even stuck to feces.
NOTE: The casings are light coloured and look like an empty bed bug shell.
BedBug Bites:- The bites often occur in a cluster of about 3 to 5 small bites. These are in zig zag pattern on your skin. Sometimes, they may not even show up on your skin for many weeks. The bugs extract your blood and bite almost up to 10 minutes. The bites are itchy and very irritating. Without any knowledge of infestation, you might end up scratching yourself for the entire night and lose sleep. The creatures are very small in size and their bites are very often confused with the bites of some other insects. You have to be very careful to familiarize yourself with the signs of infestation in order to save yourself and your family from a bed bug invasion in your house.
NOTE: The bites are also confused with rashy itches from a skin infection.
The Bug Feces:- The bugs leave their feces everywhere in the house and that too in large quantities. Black residues or black patches are found along the corners of the beds or wherever they have infested. For instance, if they have infested a piece of clothing, black residue is found on the folds or creases. On furniture, they appear sticky and stuck to the wood. The walls may have trails of feces running down.
NOTE: Bugs come out at night to feed on blood leave noticeable streaks.
Bed Bugs Eggshells:- Bugs multiply in population. The eggshells are definitely symptoms of this multi-generation. They are around 1mm in length but are visible to the eyes on a close observation. Here again, they look like the shells or casings of live bed bugs. The shells are mostly found in the places that the bed bugs use to hide such as the corners of clutter against the walls or the hidden rough corners of wood.
NOTE: The eggshells are shiny and flattened.
Do keep in mind that bed bugs do not go away on their own. Carefully look for the above mentioned signs and treat them as clues of their presence in your house and a present infestation. You however, need to confirm the infestation by calling out some professional help for pest control. The right tools can go all the way to make your house totally bug free.
