One of the most detested and least understood pest species known to civilisation is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as young ones with the parting words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?
Bed Bugs may have started to predate on man at around the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella mainly fed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human beings when our ancestors started staying} in bat infested caves.
Before the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace stowaways in most slum quality homes.
The later years of the 20th century saw pest controllers called out to very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being mostly restricted to cheap holiday hotels and student accomadation etc.
A lot of people mistake dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.
Adult bedbugs are reddish in colour, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after dining on human blood.
Bed bugs usually feed on human blood every few days, appearing in the early hours of the morning and locating their target by sniffing the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when close in on their target, they sense body body heat.
Without a suitable human meal to dine on they can stay dormant for periods of up to a year or more.
Signs of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bedding and on the edges of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.
The early the 21st century has seen bed bug infestations explode all over the planet, the easy availability of overseas and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.
What is certain is that that are now making a real comeback not only in poor quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.
One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.
|One night stay in an infested premises is all it requires, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on all kinds of transport so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread these bugs to your own home.
They are an difficult pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on very overweight people.
They are not a pest that can be successfully tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.
Telephone Harrier Pest Prevention on 01772 837727
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TheOilDrum: * The Time has Arrived to do Epic Shit: Larry Santoyo’s parting words to his permaculture students are, “Blame no… * -
OMG! I am glad that I read these in order in my reader!
what you should REALLY be thankful for is the fact I didn't snap a photo of what came back up! the vet assistant really cracked me up — her parting words to me were that I might want to have EmmaLou outside as soon as received her yummy hydrogen peroxide cocktail — yeah, like I'm going to do that in the living room!!! duh squared…
More or less actually done by one of my managers many moons ago:
He had his .44 Magnum revolver out on the table, being cleaned, when his daughter's date showed up. Now this thing was not so much a handgun as a hand-cannon, and was placed *just so* so the boy could not miss seeing it.
Parting words as the couple left:
“So you'll have her back by ten, right?”
“9:30, yes sir!”
I have been playing the temp game since graduating college in May of 2007. I finally got a temp to hire position and was there for 6 months. I got laid off with one day's notice. I replaced that gig with another temp to hire position, and was laid off from that job in the middle of a Monday afternoon.
So I hear you loud and clear when you describe the client's parting words: It really is a “Fuck you very much.”
You forgot to mention one thing though: They will assume you are stupid and ask you questions like, “Do you know about tabbed browsing?” or “Can you cut and paste.”
Alright, have to go: parting words: you may want to fill your pool with jell-o, don’t. Fill someone elses
goguthgo:Yikes! This must have been from the deep, disturbed subgenius.You no doubt have wise ass nieces and nephews, Amy.Maybe, even likely, you be blessed with such angels one day – having been married twice and divorced with no kids, I leave you with my parting words, often said, when I return custody of my Nieces and Nephews to their biological parent units:”Get these fuckin' kids away from me, I need whiskey and percoset.”
parting is such sweet sorrow. as usual w.s had the words to capture the moments