Most household pests do their best to stay out of your way. Roaches scatter when you flick on the lights, mice scamper out of sight, and spiders build their webs in dark corners far out of reach. But for some pests, humans aren’t predators to be avoided, they’re prey.
Bed bugs are among the worst of these pests. Like lice, they’re parasitic insects that feed on the blood of their victims for sustenance. Some folks may suspect they have a bed bug problem but don’t know what to look for. How do you know if you have bed bugs in South Pasadena? First, you’ve got to be able to identify a bed bug.
How To Identify Bed Bugs
Adult bed bugs are small, usually between 3/16 to 1/4 of an inch in length, or about the size of an apple seed.
They can be identified by:
- A long, flat oval-shaped body, which can appear more rounded if the bugs have recently fed
- Brown to reddish-brown coloration
- Typical insect features like antennae, six legs, and a segmented body
Young bed bugs, or nymphs, can be almost invisible to the naked eye, but are essentially even smaller, translucent versions of their adult selves. Bed bug eggs are incredibly tiny, about the size of the head of a pin, and are white in color.
Signs Of Bed Bug Infestation
The trouble is, several other household insects also match this description. Ticks, fleas, cockroach nymphs, and carpet beetles are all commonly mistaken for bed bugs, and if a bed bug infestation is misidentified and not resolved quickly, it can spiral out of control.
You’re unlikely to discover your bed bug infestation on sight, however. Usually, you’ll discover the evidence of bed bugs long before you actually see the bugs themselves. The first sign is bed bug bites. Bed bug bites appear as small red irritations, usually in a linear formation, on the hands, neck, face, shoulders, and arms. Bite marks aren’t always a reliable sign of infestation, as many small insects like mosquitoes leave similar marks.
More reliable indicators of bed bug infestation are blood stains on sheets, dark spots caused by bed bug droppings, eggs, and eggshells.
Sites Of Infestation
It’s important to know that bed bugs aren’t just limited to the bedroom! Your sleeping body is an easy target for these nasty parasites, but a bed bug infestation can easily spread to your entire home if left untreated.
Bed bugs like to hide out of sight when not feeding and can be found around the seams of mattresses, headboards, nightstands, and other furniture in the bedroom area. They have been known to hide out in the seams of upholstered furniture like sofas and chairs, under cushions, and even in curtains. Bed bugs have even been known to hide out in electrical appliances!
When a bed bug infestation is left untreated, it’s only a matter of time before the problem spreads out of control. In just three months, a single pregnant female bed bug can breed 300 new adults and up to 1000 eggs. That’s a lot of blood-sucking parasites invading your home.
If you suspect that your South Pasadena home is suffering from a bed bug infestation, get in touch with Kat’s Pest Solutions to solve the problem. Since 2010, Kat Herrera and her team of expert technicians have been serving the South Pasadena area with friendly, quality home pest control. With our South Pasadena pest control services tailored for your needs, no job is too big or too small for Kat’s Pest Solutions.