How to detect bed bugs in an apartment?

Before detecting bedbugs in their beds, many people go through the stage of "mosquito bites", when the morning marks from a nightly feast of insects are taken for a raid of winged bloodsuckers. However, time goes on, the number of parasites grows, and one day the secret becomes apparent - one of the wingless raiders with a bloated belly from an insatiable thirst for blood comes across. As a rule, this happens even when the population of insects has already reached impressive size, and they spread throughout apartment.

This circumstance greatly complicates the detection of bloodsucker nests and the conduct of pest control measures. In order to take control of the situation in time and get by with a little blood, you need to know the first signs of the appearance of bedbugs in the house.

Signs of the appearance of bugs

So how do bugs find themselves? What signs should I look for? There are a number of true signs that can help you understand who bites you at night. Finding at least one of them is a reason to think, but the appearance of several at once is a sure sign that uninvited new settlers have settled in your house. Consider them.

What to look for?

When the first suspicions appear, you should pay close attention to the appearance of the bite. In a number of parasites, the marks have characteristic features that make it possible to accurately determine the type of insect. Bed bugs have the following distinguishing features:

1. A chain of multiple reddish marks, forming a kind of track. Only bugs leave such a trail, since they attack in flocks. Several dozen insects can feed on one place. "Caravan", crawling from place to place, and leaves such characteristic marks.
2. Characteristic localization on the arms, legs and neck. Having approached a sleeping person, the bug bites first the parts of the body closest to it - arms and legs. Then, as they advance, they rise higher, but it is the limbs and neck that suffer most at first.
3. The appearance of bites on body parts, usually covered with a blanket at night, which allows you to more confidently determine the type of insect, as mosquitoes are not able to reach these places, and the bites of other insects have a completely different appearance.
4. Itchy marks appear only after a night's sleep, which is also the main difference between bedbug bites.

Differentiate a bug bite will also help a careful examination of the place of its attack. As a rule, the mark is small in the range of 5-10 mm. In children and especially sensitive people, it can significantly increase and sometimes reach gigantic proportions. However, this is extremely rare. Most people do not feel discomfort at all, and they have no marks.

Bedbug bites do not have a clear outline, and their blisters seem to be blurred. At the top of the swelling there is a small puncture hole, which is clearly visible in the magnifying glass. When combing, the upper peel is often peeled off, and then covered with a crust of a dried sucrose.Itching intensifies when combing, since the insect saliva spreads into the surrounding tissues, so you should not try to relieve it in this way. It is best to treat the bite sites with a corticosteroid ointment or simply moisten the itchy blister with soda solution.

In detail about the signs of bedbugs and their danger, we described in the article: Symptoms of bug bites - signs and possible consequences. There you can find photos that will help establish that you have suffered precisely from these parasites.

Another important sign of a night invasion is bloody spots on the sheet in the morning. They are formed from well-fed bugs crushed by the careless movement of the body. And since these bloodsuckers can drink quite a lot, sometimes whole bloody stains can remain on the bed, which is simply impossible not to notice. And the characteristic “bug” smell from a crushed insect cannot be confused with anything.

Advice! Ammonia, vinegar, soapy water, juice of fresh potatoes and parsley well relieves itching.

How do they look?

An indisputable sign of the appearance of bugs in the house is the fact of the discovery of an insect. What do these bloodsuckers look like?

Outwardly, they are small, up to 9 mm insects, with a flattened in the horizontal plane oval body of a yellowish or dark brown color. On the surface of the abdomen, its segments are clearly visible. In young females, under the translucent skin, you can see the contours of the eggs. Well-fed insects carry their belly, greatly inflated from the blood, but they can be seen only immediately after saturation or in the nest, since the blood-sucking bloodsuckers climb into a secluded place for digesting food.

Young individuals are lighter in color than adult insects. The newly hatched larvae are completely invisible, as they are practically transparent and have very small sizes, up to 1.5 mm in length.

Insects also have 3 pairs of jointed legs with tenacious hooks at the ends and an oral-piercing-sucking type apparatus. A pair of dark eyes can be seen on the sides of the flattened cephalothorax, antennae-antennas are attached there, with the help of which insects are oriented in space.

Interesting fact! The bug is able to smell a human smell at a distance exceeding 10 meters!

Where to look for nests?

Another indisputable sign of the appearance of insects in the house can serve as the found place of their daytime laying. However, it is quite difficult to find them, because bedbugs can hide perfectly and are in no hurry to publicize their presence. So how do you find bug nests?

Insects are able to hide in the most inaccessible places. The flattened shape of their body contributes a lot to this. It would seem that it is impossible to detect them, but there are some signs indicating the location of the nesting site.

Signs of the location of the insect nest:

• black dots in the folds of furniture, which are the excrement of insects;
• empty skins from molted larvae;
• eggs, one at a time, two attached to the surface of the furniture;
• live insects and their larvae.

The presence of at least one of the listed signs indicates that bedbugs settled in this place. However, it can only be discovered by chance or as a result of a systematic check of the premises in the most likely places of their habitat. So where do the bugs live? What places do they choose for their shelter?

Can bloodsuckers dwell right on a person? Do bugs live in clothes? As a rule, they eat on a person only at night, and the rest of the time they hide in secluded places. Only a very hungry bug can attack during the day. It was they, apparently, that became the cause of the myth of “clothing” bugs. Body lice are very similar in appearance to larvae of bedbugs; an ignorant person will easily confuse them. Bedbugs are also easy to get into clothes lying in bedside dressers and linen cabinets.

Advice! Old, jalous sofas and mattresses with a strong defeat by their bugs are best to throw right away. Of these, it is almost impossible at home to sassy cheeky survivors.Sometimes this measure helps to completely get rid of insects, since often the entire colony is placed in one place.

Some general information

In order to choose the most effective ways to deal with bloodsuckers, you need to find out what is called “in person”. So, here are the main points that are especially important to know about bed, or as they are also called, home bugs:

1. Bedbugs run pretty fast. In a minute, a hungry insect can cover a distance of 125 cm, which is quite a lot for such a baby. Bloodsuckers seek their prey by the smell of sweat, so the use of antiperspirant deodorants can significantly complicate their lives and disorient in search of food.
2. They can do without food for a long time. How many bugs live without food? This question is difficult to answer. It all depends on the external conditions and the development cycle of the insect. The younger the bloodsucker, the easier it goes on a hunger strike. According to some reports, the larvae are able to be in some state of suspended animation for years.
   
3. The average life expectancy of a bug is 11-12 months. However, the lower the temperature, the more prolonged its development. In cold rooms, their lifespan increases by an average of 3-4 months. How many bugs live at room temperature in 30 ⁰FROM? Their development is significantly accelerated and insects finish their life paths at the age of 7-8 months. However, this means a higher breeding rate, which means that in a hotly heated apartment the population of bloodsuckers will grow faster than in an unheated one.
4. The female lays up to 500 eggs in her entire life. She tries to put off all of her “children” in different places. So it’s unlikely that it will be possible to find a large clutch of eggs in one place.
5. On average, 1-2 months are spent on the development of the larva before the mature stage. The rest of the life, and this is neither more nor less than 8-10 months, they actively reproduce.
6. Bedbugs do not tolerate temperatures below 22 ⁰C and above 55 ⁰C. This circumstance is used in the fight against bloodsuckers. For example, they are frozen, exposing furniture and things in winter frosts, roasted in ovens, scalded with hot steam.

Interesting information about the life of bugs can be found in this video: