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If you went to sleep and woke up with itchy bite marks on the arms and on other parts of the body, it is often blamed on mosquitoes. And while mosquitoes are notorious for biting us in our sleep, bed bugs too operate in the night when it is dark and when you are asleep.

Unlike mosquito bites which appear randomly, bedbug bites have a tendency to follow a straight line. The bites are also excessively itchy and can easily become a small wound with frequent scratching. Such small wounds can easily become infected leading to other undesired complications.

Bed bugs are parasites that feed on human blood. They are oval shaped and about the size of an apple seed. When they have not fed, they appear flat with a brown color. When they have fed they assume a rounder shape and their color changes to reddish brown. Bed bugs have a musty offensive odor that comes from the bugs scent glands.

Where do bed bugs hide?

These pests can play mind games on you if you have never encountered them before. You may be certain that some things are pricking at your skin while you are asleep, but when you rise up to put on the lights and inspect the bed, you can’t see a thing.

That’s because they are extremely good at hiding in all manner of places including the seams of linen. If you suspect bed bugs on your bed, using bright linen helps increase the chances of seeing one. As the infestation grows, you might see a splutter of blood on the sheet on a bed bug that you might have managed to squash as you were turning in the night.

Bedbugs tend to hide in close proximity to the bed where they have access to their host at night when they are sleeping. So they will typically hide on the mattress seams. If the mattress cover has a hole, they will camp and breed inside the mattress where it is so hard to teach them.

Because of their shape and size, bedbugs can fit in very tiny crawl spaces the size of the edge of a credit card. Such places include:

• Furniture cushions
• Furniture joints
• Bedside Drawers
• Chest of drawers
• Drapes
• Edge of carpets
• Sockets near the bed
• Wooden wall skirting
• Linen

How do you know you have bed bugs in your home?

• If you are waking up with bite marks on your arm and other parts of the body in the morning that you did not go to sleep with the previous night
• Bedbug poop may be visible on the wall, linen and sheets. It appears as rusty spots
• Blood stains on sheets and pillows
• Musty unpleasant odor that bed bugs emit from their scent glands

Conclusion

Because of their ability to hide and quickly spread from one room to another infesting mattresses, sofas and so forth. Containing bed bugs as soon as possible before an infestation grows is imperative. But it requires systematic approach that involves containment, curtailing the spread of the vermin and killing of their offspring.

While doing things yourself will bring some relief, the problem often tends to recur. Engaging a licensed pest officer, will help you formulate the best action plan that will totally get rid of them.