Aliens dont Wear Hats

One of the most hated and lesser known pests known to man is the bed bug Cimex lectularius. Many of us dozed off to sleep at night as kids with the words of our elders in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”

Bed Bugs possibly started to predate on man at about the period we started living in, bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella predominantly fed on bats and it is possible that bat feeding species of bug evolved to predate on the blood of human beings when our ancestors started dwelling in bat infested caves.

Up to the popularity of DDT in the early part of the 20th century bed bugs were common pests in most poor quality homes.

The later decades of the 20th century saw pest control companies reporting very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being usually restricted to cheap holiday camps and student halls etc.

A lot of people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked eye, with bed bugs which most certainly are.

Adult bedbugs are red-brown, about a a few milemetres in size and very engorged after a feed of human blood.

Lacking a suitable human being to feed on they can stay dormant for lengthy periods of up to 18 months.

The initial signs of a bed bug infestation are usuallyspots of blood on duvets and on the edges of mattresses and some people can react very badly to bed bug bites.

The first decade of the 21st century saw bed bug numbers expanding across the whole planet, the cheap availability of international travel and economic migration have both been cited as reasons for the return.

What is positive is that that are now staging a real comeback not only in lower quality housing but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

A single away in an infested bed is all it requires, they stowaway in your clothing or bags. Pest control companies are also now seeing cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes, trains and buses so a simple journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation into your own house.

They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular belief they do not just hide in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and eradicating them is both expensive and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh of very fat people.

They are not a pest that can be eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be required.

Call Manchester Pest Control now on 01204 689361

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