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How Will I Recognize Bedbugs?

I suppose you already know that bedbugs have made a big come back in the West. Bedbugs were practically completely eliminated in western Europe, the United States and Canada in the 1950's, but have been resurfacing in ever larger numbers since around 1995. It is assumed that this is due to more numerous foreign holidays and increased immigration..

You see, bedbugs travel around by hitching a lift on people's clothing and then jumping off when it gets quiet and warm enough again. The poor little creatures are actually quite shy, you know, which is why you could have a growing family of them in your house long before you become bitten. And bedbugs can go for six months without feeding.

Bedbugs are small, usually brownish beetles that look a bit banded, because of the hairs on their back. They have a long pointy beak for sucking blood and can move astonishingly quickly if disturbed. Some Individuals say that they cannot be seen with the naked eye, but this only applies to those of us with very poor eyesight. A bedbug is around the size, colour and shape or an apple pip on legs.

In fact, you may never see a bedbug in your room, but you might see remnants of its activity. If you see brown smears on your sheets, they are bedbug droppings but if you see red streaks, that is your blood. You may also see black spots, which are also droppings and hollow insect cases, which is where they have shed a skin on their way to maturity.

People who have experience of bedbugs say that you do not have to see them, you can smell them. They say that, their smell is very distinctive, but you would have to ask quite an old person to describe it for you as most individuals under 60 will not have had much contact with bedbugs, if any at all.

Bedbug bites have an effect on people in different ways. Some Individuals react quite badly to the bites when others might hardly notice them at all. However, most people notice some red marks that itch. A little like flea bites.

I suppose that you are asking yourself how you can get rid of these little bugs by now. Well, this is the bad news - bedbugs are infamously difficult to be rid of. In fact, if you have an infestation of bedbugs, you should notify your landlord and the health authorities but if you own the property yourself, you will almost certainly have to pay to get the exterminators in as pesticides and insecticides are practically useless against them.

The best manner to deal with bedbugs is not to let them get a foothold in your premises. Most of us pick up a bedbug while on holiday, staying in a hotel at home or while using public transport or in public places like cinemas.

So, inspect your clothing, particularly under the collar and in the pockets. The only surefire manner of killing bedbugs is the use of heat, so if you find one on your coat, put your garments in the tumble dryer on full heat to kill the bedbug, its friends and its eggs.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently concerned with bed bugs extermination. If you are interested in this, please visit our website now at Picture Of Bed Bugs for more information.