Learn More About Bed Bugs
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Bed Bugs Pest Blog
A bedtime nursery rhyme saying โGoodnight, sleep tight and do not let the bed bugs bitesโ. We all know that insects can be quite a nightmare, so it's good advice.
How Long Can Bed Bugs Live?
Identifying Bedbug in Singapore
About bed bugs, they are insects of the genus cimex and feed on human for a blood meal, always active at night time. Bedbug bites itch and have a negative health impact. Such as red bumps, mental stress, and allergic reactions. Adult bed bugs are tiny, brown to beige in colour and oval in shape similar to the size of an apple seed.ย
Their bodies tend to give out an odour and turn reddish in colour after a blood meal. Adult female can lay up to a hundreds eggs over a lifespan. The instars called nymphs sheds their skins at least 5 times before maturing. They need blood meal before shedding to get fully developed and live for 10 months to a year.
Finding suitable spots anywhere around your property for bedbugs is easy for them. Especially in Singapore with such warm climate. Making it our responsibility to prevent bed bug and inspect for the signs of bed bugs. With regularly checking the mattress, box springs, bedding, electrical outlets, looking for bedbugs on sheets and mattress protectors.
Understanding the Lifecycle of Bed Bug is Key
What A BedBug Looks Like?
Identifying bed bugs is important to be sure that you avoid transporting them with you. They have an oval shape body similar to an apple seed and grow to around 3/16" in length. Before feeding, they are beige to brown in colour and looks rather flat. After a meal, they become brownish red in colour, fatter, and longer.
They have 6 legs, 2 antennae and a set of wings โwing pads,โ but cannot fly. The adult bedbugs can be easily spot, especially in between mattress seams and box springs. The nymphs are harder to locate and identify, for they are much smaller in size and pale in colour.
Both nymphs and adults bed bug commonly feed during the night leaving host with itchy welts or allergic skin reaction. They hide well in dark cracks and crevices during the day time making it puzzling to figure out which insect bite it is from. They usually hide in places or furniture that are within a few feet from places where human sleep or rest.
Places like along the mattress seams and beneath the bedsheet covers or in box springs. Commonly they hide in joints for the bed frames, behind headboards, under loose, wallpaper, picture frames and within furniture. Bedbugs love to harbourage on materials made of wood material, old newspaper and fabrics.
Clear Signs Your Home Might Have Bedbugs - BedBug & BedBug Bites Photos Images
Signs of BedBug Infestation
Bedbugs, how to tell if the infestation is severe and how do they start an infestation in your home? They hitchhike and travel on apparels, on bedsheets, in luggage bags, and more. If they pass on by bedsheets or clothings and not taken care of immediately, they will continue spreading. Commonly identify by the small reddish marks and dark spots faecal โข on mattresses, furnitures or walls.
If you see these โข spots, it can be a clear indication of an infestation. Bedbug bites on the back of the arms and legs, these are usually a tell tale sign. And the zigzag pattern is easy to spot and more often than usual the bedbug bites on the neck. It takes 2 to 3 days for the red bumps to appear, giving ample of time for the infestation to start.
Having bedbug bites symptoms or an allergic reaction from the bites alone is not a clear indication an infestation. Infestations can be identify through the finding of bedbugs moult skins, bed bug eggs, eggshells, or the bugs itself. These things are quite tiny, but visible to the naked eye. The moult skins and their eggshells are lily white after moulting or leaving the eggshell, respectively.
Bedbugs are extremely evasive creatures, with a specialist help you can overcome an infestation. You should not attempt to rid of them on your own. As 76 percent of pest control professionals says they are the toughest bug to eradicate. If you suspect an infestation,ย Innovative Pest Control company services immediately.ย ย
Bed Bug Before Feeding
Bedbugs can live without a blood meal for 20 to 400 days, depending on the surrounding temperature. The older instars stages of nymphs can survive longer without a blood meal than younger ones. Adults bed bug can survive up to one year or more.
Bed Bug After Feeding
They can gain to 6 times their weight after a blood meal that takes around 3 to 10 minutes. Hosts often do not realise they are being bite until much later. Bites happens when people are asleep, and bed bugs will inject anaesthetics during feeding.
Bed Bugs Eggs
The eggs of an adult female are coat to allow them to stick to literally any surface. Those older than 5 days will appear to have a dark mark looking like eyes. The eggs are usually in clusters well hidden and hatches only after the 10 days. The room temperature tend to play a part in the process to influence the eggs to hatch.
Bed Bugs Empty Eggshells
The bedbugs eggs are commonly close to the beds, given that they feed mainly on human blood. They can be on mattress seams, box spring, furniture, wall sockets and even behind the headboards. Sometimes attached to the walls or furnitures and lookout for a musty odor they give out.
Bed Bug Skin Shell
Bedbugs go through a moulting period as part of their lifecycle. After moulting, the bedbug leaves behind its shells or casing. If you see many of these around, it could mean you have a bedbug problem.
Bed Bug Bite Pattern
Some may notice only a single bite, while other may have several bites will appearing in a zig zag line. The same bedbug can bite 2 different individuals. And one can have no reaction while the other suffers extreme reaction with swell and itchy bumps.
Bed Bugs Blood Stains
The blood stains are usually small, dark red in colour, and round or smeared. They occur during feeding on a blood meal and found on pillowcase or bed sheets. Possible that they are crush the minute you lie down to sleep.
Bed Bugs Fecal Matters
Their faecal matter looks like black ink stains and can be on your mattresses, bed frames, or box springs. If the spots smears upon contact, it may be a bedbug faeces. They usually leave their droppings close by their feeding ground.
