Bed Bug Facts

• The life cycle stages of a Bed Bug are egg, nymph and adult.
• Bed Bugs can be seen with the naked eye.
• Bed Bugs are small, oval, wingless insects that have flat bodies. Their flat shape enables them to readily hide in cracks and crevices.
• Adult Bed Bugs are brown to reddish brown.
• Newly hatched nymphs have the general appearance of adults, but are nearly colorless, becoming brownish as they mature.
• Bed Bugs feed by sucking blood from humans.
• After a blood meal, the body elongates and becomes swollen.
• Female Bed Bugs lay eggs after a blood meal!
• Female Bed Bugs lay about 200 eggs, usually at the rate of 1-5 eggs per day!
• Eggs are white and placed in cracks and crevices and other protected areas.
• Eggs will hatch in one or two weeks into Nymphs and begin feeding immediately!
• Nymphs shed their skin five times before becoming adults.
• Bed Bugs will mate soon after becoming mature - the time from egg hatch to egg laying will be 4 to 9 weeks under favorable conditions.
• Bed Bugs can be introduced into a structure via used furniture or through the belongings of someone who has been living in a Bed Bug infested home.
• International travel and commerce are thought to facilitate the spread of Bed Bugs. Eggs, nymphs and adult Bed Bugs are readily transported in luggage, clothing, bedding and furniture.
• Once a female has a blood meal and is fed, she will start a local infestation!
• Bed Bugs harbor in cracks and crevices during the day and come out at night to feed.
• They may feed in the daylight in rooms that are not used at night!
• Once a Bed Bug is introduced, they often spread from room to room. Bed Bugs can live in many areas of the home. They can live in tiny cracks in furniture, upholstered furniture, picture frames, floorboard cracks, behind loose wallpaper, under door and window casings, behind baseboards, etc. However, they tend to be most common in areas where people sleep - living in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, head and foot boards. They are not restricted to any of the places mentioned above.
• Bed Bugs suck the blood from their host with piercing mouth parts, BUT the bite of a Bed Bug is painless.
• 80% of people develop an allergic reaction to the saliva injected by the Bed Bug as it feeds.
• The skin may become irritated or inflamed. A small, hard, swollen white welt may develop at the site of each bite.
• In the absence of humans, Bed Bugs feed on poultry, canaries, English sparrows, mice, rats, guinea pigs, bats and even dogs and cats if necessary.
• Bed Bugs can infest airplanes, ships, trains and buses. A common infestation may occur in a hotel or motel because of international travel.
• A second common source for Bed Bug infestations occur in homes were bats, birds and other wild hosts have been roosting. Although similar in appearance, these Bed Bug species that normally feed on bats and birds can be differentiated from Common Bed Bugs that prefer humans.
• Although Bat Bugs and Bird Bugs prefer to feed on bats, birds and other wild hosts, they will also feed on humans if the opportunity arises or if the preferred host dies or leaves the roost.
• Bed Bugs may leave odors because of their stink glands.
• With normal feeding, adult bedbugs can live up to 6 or 7 months.
• Bed Bugs can live for months without feeding and can therefore be found in vacant homes.