One of the most hated and misunderstood pests known to science is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as children with the parting words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs may have started to predate on human beings at about the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bugs evolved to feed on human blood when our ancestors started sleeping} in bat infested caves.

Until the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most slum quality homes.

The later years of the 20th century saw pest operatives having very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being largely restricted to low quality holiday homes and student lodgings etc.

A lot of people mistake dust mites, which cannot be seen by the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.

Adult bedbugs are reddish in colour, about a few milemetres in size and swollen after a feed of human blood.

Bed bugs usually feed on human blood every few days, appearing in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by sniffing the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close in on their target, they sense infra red heat.

In the absence of a suitable human meal to dine on they can lay in a period of dormancy for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bugs

Signs of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on sheets and on the corners of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to bed bug bites.

The early the 21st century has seen bed bug reports growing all over the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.

What is certain is that that are now making a real return not only in cheaper quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.

One night away in an infested bed is all it requires, they hitch 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 sufficient to bring these bugs to your own home.

They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both laborious 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 overweight people.

One way of preventing bed bug infestation is to equip your bed with Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements.

Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements stop bed bugs from gaining access to your mattress.

Visit to the Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements site for more details.

They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.

Contact us on 0161 930 8814

T Disk

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