As for the pest, adult bed bugs are reddish brown and grow to 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch (4–5 mm) in length, which is about the size of an apple seed. Nymphs are much smaller and white (or translucent) until their first blood meal. They tend to harbor (but are certainly not limited to) small cracks and crevices in and on the mattress, box springs, bed frames (especially behind the headboard), and in cracks and crevices or under other small items near the bed. That being said, bed bugs can harbor in curtain rods, electrical equipment (clocks, phones, computers, etc), board game boxes, stuffed animal, inside the walls, ceiling, flooring, and everywhere in between. Visual signs of a bed bug infestation can include blood spotting on sheets (which occurs when a bed bug is crushed after a meal), dark stains (which look like black ink) from fecal matter in areas where the bugs harbor, as well as eggs, nymphs and adult bed bugs being noted. If you have found signs of an infestation you should have an inspection performed by a NESDCA certified bedbug detecting canine or a pest management professional. If you find a bug in your bed, carefully place it in a container (glass or plastic) so it can be inspected by a professional. Remember, the better condition the bug is left in, the easier it is for a professional to identify it! Being that bed bug infestations are difficult to control, it is recommended you hire a professional instead of trying to do it yourself. Many times homeowners will make the infestation more difficult to eliminate because they have treated with store bought chemicals (or old pesticides left in the garage) which cause the bed bugs to spread throughout the home instead of congregate in their normal harborages. Get a professional inspection to assess whether you have bed bugs or not, and if you do, hire a pest management company who has experience and success in eliminating bed bugs to do the job for you!
Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius) have a long and close history with humankind. Apart from being a pest for thousands of years, they have made cultural appearances for hundreds of years, from popular literature (Orwell’s semi-autobiographical Down and Out in London and Paris), the oft macabre genre of children’s lullabies (don’t let the bed bugs bite!), to pop culture (recently 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live to name a few).
