Information about bedbugs - detailed article

Types of bedbugs

The planet is inhabited by about forty thousand different species of bedbugs. They differ so greatly from each other in lifestyle, eating style, and appearance that often only a specialist is able to recognize a bug in an insect. Of the few unifying features, one can name the structure of the oral apparatus common to all species. Regardless of the species, it piercingly sucks on all bedbugs. Some species feed on blood, others on plant juices. Nutrient fluids are different, but the principle of their absorption is the same. Another striking sign of a bug is a specific and rather strong odor, which is secreted by special glands located on the insect’s abdomen between the first and second pairs of legs. On the one hand, they perform a communicative role between individuals of the same species at the chemical level - the composition of the secreted liquid is close to pheromones. On the other hand, they scare away enemies. That, perhaps, is all that makes representatives of different species similar, and then the peculiarities begin. Among the bugs that live in gardens and vegetable gardens, there are both pests and protectors that can save the crop from other insects. Such defenders include the bug soldier

.
It faithfully serves gardeners by eating the eggs of insect pests. Some bedbugs are specially bred in gardens and vegetable gardens. Such “privileged” species include Podisus
bug .
He is the only one who hunts the Colorado potato beetle, which earned him fame as the best savior of potatoes. The antipodes of beneficial bugs include cruciferous bugs
, which destroy cabbage seedlings with full confidence that they were planted specifically for them.
This right is not disputed even by birds who do not risk tasting an insect that emits a strong and unpleasant odor. Another common pest of gardens and vegetable gardens is the turtle bug
.
Young trees and seedlings suffer from it. It attaches itself to green shoots and sucks out all the juices from them. Waterfowl bugs include the water strider
and
smoothie
, which is also called the water wasp.
Both species are predators, hunting mosquitoes, their larvae, midges and other small insects that live above the surface of water bodies. Both species roam the watery expanses of ponds and lakes, occasionally venturing onto land. Both species have well-developed wings, allowing them to move long distances in search of better places to live. They are similar in almost everything except appearance. An elegant water strider, easily gliding across the surface of the water as if on ice, looks like a graceful ballerina in comparison with the “wide-shouldered, heroic build” smoothie. They cannot be called a harmonious couple. Apparently this is why they prefer to settle in different ponds. A large group consists of parasitic bugs that feed on the blood of larger organisms. About 30 species parasitize animals, birds, and bats. And only some species prefer human blood. A prominent representative of them is the house or bed bug.

Bed bugs

Bed bugs are synanthropic insects. They parasitize humans and cannot exist outside human habitation. Eras, human living conditions, the exterior and interior of houses, engineering communications change, and only the presence of bedbugs remains unchanged. The instinct of self-preservation leads them to humans, and this is the most accurate compass in the world! The bug knows that next to a person it is always warm and satisfying. And it is not so important what is the source of heat in the home - a fire in a cave or central heating radiators in a fashionable house. Where a person is comfortable, a bug will be comfortable there. And everything else is not significant and does not in any way affect the magnetic attraction of parasites to their victims.

What do house bugs look like?

The size of the bug can vary from 3 to 7 millimeters. It is easily recognized by its highly flattened, segmented, oval-shaped body. The small head is equipped with everything necessary to find a source of food and feed the body in a timely manner - eyes, antennae and a massive mouthparts with a pronounced sharp proboscis, with which the bug pierces human skin like a needle. As the body segments become saturated, they become filled with blood, stretched, and rounded. It is difficult to distinguish any parts of the body of a completely satisfied bug that has fallen off the victim - it looks more like a round bead than an insect.

You can learn more about what bedbugs look like in our separate article.

Structure

The body is strongly flattened, adapted to life in narrow crevices, covered with microscopic hairs. There are no wings. A proboscis extends from the anterior edge of the head, adapted for piercing tissue and sucking blood. The upper and lower jaws look like piercing, undivided bristles and form two channels: a wide one for receiving blood and a narrow one for secreting saliva at the injection site.

Due to the flexibility of the body, a hungry bug is weakly vulnerable to mechanical methods of fighting it. A well-fed bug becomes less mobile, its body acquires a more rounded shape and a blood-colored color. Bed bugs have a specific smell that can only be felt at close range.

Where do bedbugs live in an apartment and how to detect them

Bedbugs settle in secluded, dark and hard-to-reach places near the bed where a person sleeps. The power source must be in close proximity to the socket. Therefore, you can find clusters of bedbugs and their eggs behind the baseboard of the wall next to which the bed stands, under the bed itself, under the bedside rug, in the depths of the bed or sofa, and even bedside tables. The bug cares about its comfort and is not ready to make long hikes every night just to have dinner. However, if the victim disappears from its usual place and moves its bed to another room, then the bug will also not be too lazy to move with its entire family and will settle into a new place of residence. He is able to travel vast distances in search of food, following the smell of blood, which he smells, even if there are no open wounds or scratches on the human skin.

If you want to find bedbug nests in your apartment yourself, use our method described in a separate article.

Typical places where bedbugs live:

Elements of upholstered furniture;
Skirting boards near sleeping places;
Behind furniture pushed tightly against the wall;
Behind the carpets hanging on the walls;
For paintings, posters;
In the folds of curtains;
Behind the sockets;
In the seams of mattresses;

In densely populated apartments, bedbugs multiply quickly and soon they become as crowded as people, and therefore they can be seen even in places unusual for them during the daytime! This fact eloquently suggests that the number of individuals has reached the permissible limit even for bedbugs - they simply no longer fit in their nests, and the unoccupied secluded places for comfortable living have all run out! This is a dangerous situation, which indicates a severely neglected sanitary condition of the apartment, threatening the health of the people living in it!

Nutrition

The carbon dioxide released when exhaling from a person’s lungs can be sensed by bedbugs from a great distance, more than 2.5 meters, and the heat of his body can be felt from 0.5 meters. The parasite can smell the smell of sweat left on the bed at a distance of 10 meters. They can determine the location of a food source from a sufficiently large distance.

The duration of a bedbug's meal (blood) is 5-10 minutes.

After finishing the meal, the bug returns to its usual place, a shelter, and does not leave there for 5 days, until it gets hungry again.

How long do bedbugs live and what are they afraid of?

The average lifespan of a bedbug is approximately 12 months. Although this figure is very arbitrary. Any changes in the temperature in the room affect its lifespan. An increase in temperature accelerates development and thus shortens the life cycle. A decrease in temperature, on the contrary, slows down the maturation and development of the new generation, increasing the overall life expectancy.

We should not forget that under unfavorable living conditions, the bug hibernates and can remain in a state of suspended animation for quite a long time. The bug does not die, but all life processes slow down so much that there can be no talk of any activity. This ability to fall into lethargic sleep has helped the bug survive many natural disasters on the planet, unlike humans. When entire civilizations perished, the bug preserved its life until better times and was revived for active activity and reproduction at the first opportunity.

ATTENTION
A bug can remain in a state of suspended animation for a year. If his hibernation is associated with a strong drop in temperature, then his lethargic sleep can last indefinitely - until it gets warmer. The bug can easily tolerate low temperatures ranging from minus 5 to minus 10.

The bug turns into ice, but it is this condition that keeps him alive. As the temperature rises, the resilient parasite thaws and attacks food with redoubled appetite. Temperatures below minus 22 degrees or above plus 40 can kill him.

In addition to extremely low and extremely high temperatures, bedbugs are afraid of sharp and strong odors. Of course, the odors of bedbugs will not physically destroy them, but they can scare them away and force them to migrate. Such odors include: table vinegar, acetone, perfumes with a strong aroma, ammonia, denatured alcohol, kerosene, turpentine.

The smells of certain plants can also repel bedbugs for a while. The most effective of them are wormwood and tansy. You can learn more about what smells bedbugs are afraid of in a separate article.

However, for serious control of a large population of bedbugs, it is better to use professional insecticides and appropriate equipment.

Reasons for the spread of bed bugs.

Scientists attribute the surge in the number of bedbugs in the last century to 3 factors:

Social problems of man. This includes an increase in tourism and migration from the southern regions, Central Asia, China and Vietnam . Also a secondary sales market such as second-hand stores, flea markets and message boards. The movement of goods and services actively contributes to the spread of bed bugs.
Environmental changes - climate warming and an increase in the number of heated rooms in cold weather. In a warm room, bed bugs can reproduce throughout the year.
The use of insecticides contributes to the development of resistance or addiction in insects. For example, in the South-Western District of Moscow, the immunity of bed bugs to cypermethrin has increased 100 times.

Why are bedbugs dangerous?

An allergic reaction of the body to bedbug bites is the most harmless consequence of contact with parasites. Everything can be much more serious and sad under certain circumstances. Much depends both on the state of health of the person and his immune system, and on the degree of infection of the bug with various viruses.

FACT
It has been scientifically proven that the bedbug is a carrier of viral diseases such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever, anthrax, and hepatitis. All these viruses enter the insect’s body along with the blood of a sick person on whose body it has parasitized.

The bug feeds on blood, so there is a chance of contracting any of the diseases that are transmitted through blood. And although some virologists do not see a direct threat of infection through the bite of an infected bug, this possibility cannot be completely dismissed. Not only bedbug bites are dangerous for humans, but even its excrement, in which the hepatitis B virus persists for a long time. Feces can be in a person’s bed, because the insect defecates in the same place where it eats, without bothering itself with creating a special latrine. A sleeping person may involuntarily inhale small particles of excrement or accidentally introduce them into the mouth. Once in the human body, the virus will begin to develop, causing disease and destruction.

What do bedbug bites look like?

Not all bedbugs bite their victims the same way. The classic option is a path of several consecutive punctures. That is, the bug is not satisfied with the blood sucked from one wound, and therefore makes several of them in one meal. However, this academic version of bites is not always found. Bedbugs, like any living creature on the planet including humans, have their own distinctive characteristics, taste preferences and feeding habits. Therefore, more often than not, a bug bite differs little from the bite of any other blood-sucking insect. An inflamed swelling of pink or red color with a pronounced skin puncture site inside. This is what a bite from any blood-sucking insect, including a bug, looks like. You can learn more about how to distinguish a bedbug bite from other insects in our separate article.

Economic importance

Bed bugs cause the greatest harm to people through their bites, depriving them of normal rest and sleep and thereby reducing productivity. In some cases, bites can lead to skin rashes, allergies, or become a traumatic factor. If the room is heavily infested, 500 or more bites are possible in one night! Bed bugs are detected by brown marks on the bed, formed when a bed bug is crushed by a person tossing and turning in his sleep who is bothered by the bites. If a room is significantly infested with bedbugs, a specific smell may appear.

Remedies for bedbugs

Let's consider what means it is possible to defeat bedbugs.

Bedbug sprays

Spray is one of the most effective means for killing bedbugs. As a rule, drugs are produced in the form of solutions that are diluted with water in accordance with the instructions. The task is to prepare a solution and pour it into a spray bottle. Small spray bottles are sold in the Garden and Vegetable Garden departments of any large supermarket or hardware store. However, any empty drinking water bottle with a sprayer screwed to the neck is suitable for this purpose.

The best results will be obtained by a spray based on professional highly concentrated insecticides, with an active ingredient content of 20% or more, usually based on Malathion. Ready-made sprays in cans, which can be bought at a hardware store, are usually not very effective and have a small volume; remember that to treat an apartment you need several liters of a working solution, which is sprayed over all the main surfaces where bedbugs can be located or move, and in ready-made ones There is very little of it in cans.

Mashenka and other bug chalks

Chalk Mashenka is a universal means of combating many crawling insects, including bedbugs. Chalk contains four components - two of them are neutral - chalk and gypsum. The other two are the insecticides deltamethrin and zeta-cypermethrin. When toxic substances enter the insect's body, they block the nervous system, resulting in paralysis and inevitable death. Like any means of combating insects, chalk has its pros and cons. The advantages include ease of use at home, affordable cost and relative safety for humans - when using this insecticide there is no need to leave your home and ventilate it for several hours. In addition, the applied line retains its destructive properties for several months. The obvious disadvantages include strictly local action. Therefore, you need to know the nesting places of bedbugs in order to outline them with chalk. You can also outline the approaches to the bed as a protective circle against the evil spirits of the night, but bedbugs can also nest in the depths of the bed itself. In addition, bedbugs will not disappear instantly from such treatment. Quite a long time must pass before representatives of the entire population crawl through the chalk lines and infect their relatives, bringing chalk particles into the nest on their paws. Chalk does not affect bedbug eggs either. You'll have to wait for the birth of a new generation in the hope that they, too, will crawl exactly where you painted the apartment. Meanwhile, bedbugs feed on blood every night and it is not worth extending the process of their destruction for several weeks if there are more effective means with instant results.

Smoke bomb for bedbugs

A smoke bomb is one of the most effective means of fighting bedbugs. Great results without any effort on your part! No need to look for bedbug nests, no need to mix, spray or paint anything. All that is required is to place a checker on a metal tray so as not to damage the floor and set it on fire. And then the smoke will do everything for you - it will spread throughout the apartment, get into all the cracks, saturate the upholstery of upholstered furniture, find nests of bedbugs and instantly destroy them. The main thing is to choose the right checker - not all of them are suitable for disinfecting bedbugs. For example, sulfur-based checkers are good at destroying mold and fungi in damp rooms - they are advisable to use in basements and cellars. Hexachlorane-based checkers are very toxic and are prohibited for use in residential areas. For the destruction of bedbugs, checkers based on peritroids, modern highly effective insecticides, are perfect. This type of checkers includes City, Quiet Evening and Samuro checkers. The active substance in all three is permethrin in varying concentrations. The highest concentration is 13% in the City checker. But you should not perceive this type of treatment as a panacea; it is still better to turn to professionals.

Disinfestation of bedbugs

Professional pest control is the fastest, extremely effective, and most importantly guaranteed option for getting rid of bedbugs. For insect exterminators, this process is a daily job. Experience, skills, and specific knowledge about the habits of insects allow you to find and destroy them without unnecessary delay. The specialist does not need to prepare for disinsection - he is always ready! The most modern technologies, new, fresh and trouble-free insecticides are always at hand. And finally, professionals always guarantee their work for at least a year and work on the object until the insects are completely destroyed.

What to do to prevent bed bugs from appearing again?

After the long-awaited victory over bed bugs, you should not relax, and you need to follow six simple rules to never encounter this problem again .

If you or someone close to you has traveled, then after returning home, carefully inspect all your belongings and suitcases for signs of bedbugs. As mentioned earlier, these are black spots of excrement of processed blood.
If you are going to purchase a piece of used furniture, be sure to check it for traces of bedbugs.
If your neighbors suddenly started unplanned repairs, then most likely this is due to the appearance of bed bugs. Ask them about their availability, and if they have them, advise them to invite a pest control specialist.
If you live in an apartment building, then survey your neighbors to see if they have bed bugs. If they don't know how to detect them, then you can help them do it.
Be careful with service personnel. If a housekeeper or a repairman comes to you, then under no circumstances leave them overnight.
If you have school-aged children, check their backpacks and school bags every time you return home. Because bed bugs can get there from other students.

How to get rid of bedbugs at home

To combat bedbugs at home, any of the above-described bedbug remedies are suitable. At home, you can use bedbug spray, bedbug chalk, or a bedbug smoke bomb yourself. You can also purchase professional insecticides from bedbug extermination companies for a one-time treatment of an apartment and treat the premises yourself.

IMPORTANT
When working with pesticides yourself, remember to wear personal protective equipment! The minimum kit you must acquire is a respirator, rubber gloves, and safety glasses. Do not neglect the safety rules, take care of your health!

When working independently, it is also important to follow the instructions for using bedbug repellents. The instructions for action, the sequence of work, dosages and proportions are always indicated on the packaging of the bedbug remedy. If you have doubts that you can cope with the task, it is better to turn to professionals.

Our website contains a knowledge base about bedbugs, so if you want to know more about this problem, read the articles about what kind of life bedbugs lead, how they reproduce, how to determine whether there are bedbugs, what bedbugs smell, etc.

Where to look for bed bugs?

Once you have determined that you have bed bugs, there are many areas in the bedroom that need to be checked for them. First of all, check your sleeping area. Carefully inspect all seams on mattresses. Examine carefully the walls and wallpaper, electrical outlets, carpeting, baseboards, picture frames and clocks. You can easily identify bedbugs by their tracks. Like all living organisms, bed bugs also defecate. And it looks like simple black dots. And if you get them wet, they will spread like an ink stain. This is a 100% way to identify bed bugs. The search for bedbugs should not be limited to just one bedroom. You should also check all adjacent rooms for their presence. If you do not find any traces of bedbugs in your room in the places described above, check all drawers, suitcases and bags of clothes. If you have pets, check them for bedbugs too.

We strongly recommend that if you detect at least one such parasite, you immediately contact our disinfection center to destroy the parasites. After all, only we have extensive experience in fighting bed bugs!