Bed Bugs In Cheshire, Manchester & Other Big Cities

Bed Bugs In Cheshire, Manchester & Other Big Cities – One of the most reviled and misunderstood pests known to man is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us gone off to sleep at night as children with the words of our parents in our ears ‘sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite’?

Bed bugs may have started to feed on man at about the time 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 dine on human blood when our ancestors started living in bat infested caves.

Don't Let The Bed Bug Bite

Until the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in much low quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century experienced pest control companies dealing with very few bed bug calls indeed, their presence being largely confined to cheap holiday camps and student lodgings etc.

Many people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.

Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and decidely swollen after a feed of our blood.

They experience an incomplete metamorphosis which means that the young are just smaller versions of the adult, they do not have a maggot stage like fleas or a fly.

Bed bugs typically feed on human blood every 7 – 10 days, emerging in the hours before dawn and locating their prey by sensing the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when nearing in on their target, body heat.

In the absence of a suitable human to dine on they can lay dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Indications of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bedding and on the base of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.

The early 21st century has seen bed bug numbers explode across the world, the cheap availability of international travel and economic migration have both been blamed for the increase.

What is positive is that thet are now making a major return not only in poor quality homes but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough reports a doubling of bed bug call-outs each year from 1995 – 2001.

A single night away in an infested hotel is all it takes, 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, trains and buses so a single journey to town on an infested bus or train can be sufficient to spread the infestation to your home.

They are an expensive pest to deal with as contrary to popular mythology they don’t just live in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human being, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and treatment is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been found living under the toe-nails of infirm persons and in the creases of flesh on heavily over-weight people.

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

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• Don’t let the bed bugs bite… (guardian.co.uk)
• Bed Bug Expert Discusses The Critters (gothamist.com)