Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are excellent at hiding and can fit into spaces as narrow as your business card! There, they wait to attack until you are in a deep sleep and most vulnerable; this site will show you how to locate these bugs, how to treat bites and how others have successfully performed their own bed bug treatment. If youre looking for photos of bed bugs and infestations, our extensive collection from visitors around the world is a must see; if that doesnt scare you, then take a look at just how much damage bed bug bites can do to your skin!

Our hotel bedbugs section helps you to avoid places that are known to be infested and what you should do if you wake up covered in bites. Using the few simple precautions mentioned in our bedbug checklist can help you find these elusive blood suckers and prevent the nightmare from ever happening in the first place!

Bed Bug Infested Mattress Click to enlarge

Finding bed bugs in your home has nothing to do with poor hygiene! It takes only one bed bug to hitch a ride on your clothing (furniture, suitcase, etc) and infest your residence. Whats worse is that they can live up to one year without drinking a drop of your blood (see our bed bug life cycle). Feeding takes about 10 to 15 minutes for adults and less for the nymphs; they feed about every three days. Depending on the conditions, bed bug nymphs can survive for months without feeding.

Bed Bugs are insects, more specifically, True Bugs, which have piercing mouthparts that in most species are used for feeding on plants. Unfortunately, there are some species of bugs with mouthparts that have been adapted to feed on human blood while inflicting very little pain (most never feel the blood feeding).

Bed Bug Lifecycle Click to enlarge

The eggs are white and about 1mm long. The nymphs look like adults but are smaller. Complete development from egg to adult takes from four weeks to several months depending on the temperature and amount of feed available, see the lifecycle chart on your right.

On average, females begins to lay eggs 4 days after mating and produces 260 eggs throughout their year long lifespan; eggs take 7 to 10 days to hatch. On average, bed bugs lay 5 eggs per week with populations reaching into the thousands in only 30 days!

See the original post here:
Bed Bugs