What Are Bed Bugs? How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs? Signs, Symptoms, and Prevention

 Bed bugs are nocturnal insects and also parasitic. Bedbugs look like reddish-brown small parasitic insects that live by sucking the blood of other animals. Warmblood is most favorable to them. They live on sucking warm-blooded animals’ blood like humans, birds, rodents, and bats.

Generally, they take shelter in the homes and nests of their hosts to suck blood. Cimex lectularius is known as the most common species which infests a human home. It is available in all-around five continents of the world. Bed Bugs do not consider spreading diseases, but they can cause numerous economic and health issues.

 

 

                                                      Real Adult Bed Bugs

                                                            Photos By: Wikipedia

Why Are They Called Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are attracted to the Carbon-Di-Oxide. They mainly come out at night. They have been attracted to Carbon-Di-Oxide that humans exhale during sleeping. They also need blood. So, they roam around the human bed and try to find Carbon-Di-Oxide sources. When they find the sources, they fulfill their attraction and bite. This is why they called bedbugs.

Where Small Bed Bugs Can Be Found?

As bed bugs live by sucking other warm-blooded animals’ blood, so it can be found near where warm blood animals can stay. It mainly hides in the cleft and cracks of the beds where people can take rest or sleep.

    

                                                        Bed Bugs Available Place

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Also, it can be found in the bed frames, box springs, Blanket, headboards, piping, tags of the mattress, and any other objects around a human bed. Also, you may find scattered bed bug nests in the chair’s seams and couches, sofa, cushions, a fold of curtains, etc. if the rooms are infested heavily.

 

How Many Types of Bed Bugs Are in the world?

There are different types of bed bugs available in the world. Among them, three main bed bugs can be listed, Cimex lectularius (common Bed bugs), Cimex hemipterus (tropical bed bugs), and L. boueti (tropical bed bugs). 

There are a dozen of genus like Cimex and some of them are several in species (90+ species). If you are a citizen of Europe or the U.S. and living there, then Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus can be your worry.

On the other hand, Leptocimex boueti can be found only in South America and West Africa, because it prefers these regions’ tropical climate.

Bat bugs insects that feed on birds and bats are called bat bugs, and Swallow Bugs insects that feed on Cliff Swallow are almost identical in dwell nature to bed bugs and have identical bites also. Only trained experts and entomologists can make a distinction between them.

 

What is the Color of Bed Bugs?

Bed Bugs are mainly reddish-brown. They never have black color in any stages of their total lifecycle. They are very clear in color when they first lay eggs. White bed bugs are called nymphs. Their nymphs are white or yellow. They turn into orange shades in their growing periods and eventually in adult bugs, it turns to reddish-brown. If any times black bed bugs appear in black color that means it has taken a blood meal. So, never fall in hesitation of black bed bugs, because they have turned to black just for a while.

 

                                     Small Blackish Red Color Bed Bugs

                                           Photos By: Piotr Naskrecki Public Domain

                                                   Adult and Small Bed Bugs

How Can We Separate Bed Bugs From Other Insects?

It is very hard to separate different types of Bed Bugs and insects unless you have vast knowledge about them and have a microscope. All types of Bed bugs and some other insects have similar habits and they can damage your home and similarly harm you.

According to Terminix bed bugs reports, bed bugs that are widely available in the tropical part of Europe and the U.S. usually have wider Prothoax between a bed bug’s neck and abdomen in the upper half of the segments. There are many other signs and appearances by which we can identify and separate pests or bugs that look like bed bugs-

• Bedbugs eggs appearance: Like small rice grain.
• Their body and size: Like an apple seed.
• Body length: 3/16 to ¼ inch or 0,16 inch or 5-7 mm
• Sometimes Bed bugs look black or dark red when they take a blood meal, digest, and turn blood into feces.
• Eggs color: very clear
• Nymphs color: white or yellow
• Growing period color: orange shades
• Adult bugs color: Light brown or Reddish Brown
• They have 6 legs
• They have 2 horn-like antennae
• Body shape: they are flat, tiny, and oval
• They never stay alone, they live in a colony. Usually, we can see them hanging out in groups in heavy infestations.
• Squished bedbugs smell: musty, lingering, wet, moldy clothes or shoes and coriander.
• Bedbugs may have vestigial wings in their adult life cycle, but they can’t use them flying.
• They can’t jump.
• They move from one place to another place by crawling.
• When they move fast, they can go about 3-5 feet per minute.

 

Why Tiny Black Bugs in Bed Not Bed Bugs?

Sometimes some insects look like bed bugs and are very identical to nature, but they are not bedbugs. Suppose, you have found a one-bed bug or tiny black bugs on bedsheets, it is not mean that you have found a real bed bug. It can be other insects that look like bed bugs. Numerous pest bugs look like bed bugs. Such as-

Bat Bugs: They are very similar to bedbugs. The only difference between them is that Bat Bugs have longer hairs on their heads. They have wing pads but do not have functional wings. They can bite. They can be found in the bat’s body. But sometimes you can say, I found a bug in my bed which is not a bed bug, it is a bat bug which may bring by bats to your house.

• Spider Beetles: They have long and thin legs. They have antennae also. Their body covered with hair, but they do not have a neck. Their shape is also like bedbugs. But beetles that look like bed bugs are not the same. Beetles that look like bed bugs have wings, but they do not fly through some species of them can fly. They do not bite like bedbugs.

 

                                                                Spider Beetles

                                                     Photos By: Katja Schulz CC BY 2.0

• Booklice: This insect is very similar to termites and looks like bedbugs. They have a soft body with long and thin antennae. Sometimes they may have wings (maybe four if present). They do not bite others, but their dead body mixing with dust can contribute to asthma problems.

                                                                          Booklice

                                                                         Photos By: lawnstarter

 

• Carpet Beetles: This insect is oval and body-color mixed with a white pattern and orange/red scales. Their head is short and also they have antennae. They fly in the daytime. They never bite, but they can cause dermatitis in humans due to allergic reactions.

                                            Carpet Beetles

                                                    Photos By: Attagenus pellio / Udo Schmidt / CC BY-SA 2.0

• Fleas: This insect is segmented and laterally flattened in shape. They are a reddish-brown color. They have a round head, long legs, and a very small body that is covered with hair. They can’t fly but bite, Their bites are very itchy. They are the vector for many other diseases.

 

Fleas

Photos By: Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc. / CC BY-SA 3.0

Do Bed Bugs Shed?

They mainly shed after completing the feeding at each of the first 5 stages of their life cycles. It may depend on the food source's availability and temperature. On the ideal condition, each stage lasts for a week, but if it is cold condition and foods not available, then each stage can take a longer time.

 

Do Bed Bugs Responsible for Spreading Diseases?

BedBugs are not the culprit for spreading diseases, but their presence can be itchy and hamper sleep. If they feed too much blood continuously from any human body, they can experience weakness and Anemia. Sometimes their itchy bites can cause excessive scratching to human skin and cause a secondary human skin infection.

What is Responsible for Bed Bug Infestations?

Crowded conditions of less developed areas are responsible for increasing the severity and incidence of bed bug infestations. On the other hand, primitive sanitation conditions are indirectly responsible for the severity of lousy bug infestations. 

Sign And Symptoms of Bedbugs Infestation

Bed bugs mainly attack during the time of sleep. One can easily find bed bugs infestation with their sign of bite marks on the face, arms, and hands, around the neck, legs, or any other parts of the body during sleeping. Sometimes it is hard to find any signs in the body of their infestation. The main symptoms of their infestation are that you may feel itching on the skin of your body and you may experience weakness and loss of sleep also. Some signs and symptoms of bedbugs infestation are given below-

 

Signs:

• You can find exoskeleton after their molting.
• You can find them in the line of sheets and folds of mattresses.
• Their excreted rusty-colored blood-filled fecal can be found on the hiding corner of a wall, furniture, mattress, blanket, quilt, etc.
• Blood marks on the mattress, quilt, blanket, pillows, and sheets.
• Beg bug’s skins and Eggshells in the areas where they usually can hide.

 

 Symptoms:

• Irritating itchy bites very similar feelings to mosquito and ant bites
• Musty, lingering, wet, moldy clothes or shoes and coriander odor
• The red area on the skin with a red dark spot in the center.
• One may experience weakness, insomnia, or sleep disturbances.
• In the time of severe infestation, one can experience anemia.
• Inflammation due to an allergic reaction in the skin.
• Secondary skin infections may occur due to excessive scratching.
• Red blood spot on the bed or buggy bed
• Many colonies are in the corner or hiding space of home furniture and items.

How Can I find the Best Bed Bug Removal Near Me?

Where I can find Bed Bugs Professional If you ever found their skins, do not start cleaning or searching. Because they can be scattered, fled away, and hide in another place inside your home. So, your cleaning process may fail and you can’t get rid of bed bugs at all. For that reason, you can give responsibility to the best bed bug exterminator. 

There are numerous bed bug removal companies near you in the world. Among them, Terminix bed bugs company, Truly Nolen for residential, Rentokil for commercial, Orkin for nationwide coverage, Home Paramount Pest Control for environment-friendly practices are the best practices. You can get the best services at a reasonable bug exterminator cost.

 

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs?

Bedbugs are not dangerous yet, but in the time of severe infestation, it may be time to be concerned seriously. Cleaning places and clothes are the first steps of getting rid of bed bugs. There are some steps are given below for your ease-

 

• Start search comb operation as you find the sources of their infestation. Clean all the spaces and clothes including beds, curtains, mattresses, cushions, blankets, quilts, sheets, lines, and usable clothes as soon as possible with hot water. Then dry them in the sunlight or with a hot dryer.
• Keep all items in a hot place with direct sunlight or a dryer that can’t be washed.
• Use a good vacuum cleaner to vacuum all places, especially seams, lines, closets, and dark areas.
• Scrub all mattress seams and folds of clothes with a brush to remove their eggs.
• Repair all clefts in the plaster and close all holes in furniture or anywhere. You can use glue to stick all peeling wallpaper if you want to get rid of bed bugs
• Encase all of your unused clothes, mattress, blanket, quilt, sheets, and other usable thread products, because they can live up to one year without taking any meal. Keep them for one year and ensure that all bugs are dead.

Moreover, it has to remember that bed bugs do not feed dirt; they only feed fresh warm blood. Hence, there is an indirect connection between bed bug infestations and cleanliness.  

During the middle of the last century, we were all introduced to an insecticide named DDT which is mainly used for controlling mosquitoes throughout the world. It also lowered bed bug infestations. In the recent quarter of that century’s developed world, infestations of bed bugs became reasonably rare. However, recently bed bug infestations have revived in the developed world.

What is The Treatment for Bed Bugs Bites?

 

Previously, we have known that bed bugs are not infectious, and also they are responsible for spreading diseases. You may experience an itchy feel, pruritic lesions, and pruritus. It may cause secondary skin infections due to excessive scratching on the skin. Before it happens, you should take proper treatments for it. 

Bed bugs bites are not dangerous yet. So you can take treatments according to signs and symptoms. You can take both topical prescriptive and nonprescriptive antipruritic agents. You can take antihistamines (e.g.: cetirizine hydrochloride, desloratadine, fexofenadine hydrochloride, etc.), cooling agents (e.g.: menthol, camphor, etc.), corticosteroids (e.g.: triamcinolone acetonide).

If you have secondary infections due to scratch, you may need to take oral medicine (For skin and skin structure infections: antibiotics such as Flucloxacillin, Cefuroxime+Clavunic Acid, Mupirocin, etc.) and creams. Moreover, you should take advice from the doctor before taking any medicine and if the circumstances go serious.

Bottom Line Statement

Bed Bugs are not dangerous yet, nor are they known as an agent of diseases. But they can irritate you by biting which can feel itching on your body. They can cause your loss of sleep and other secondary skin diseases if you scratch on your skin too much. 

Suppose, you have a cleaning mission and you think that you have cleaned all sources of bed bugs’ availability, but there can be more chance of getting infest again if there is any source of eggs and live bugs remain unclean. So, if you want to get rid of bed bugs, you shouldn’t take it in dally.