It can be surprising finding yourself scratching little red bumps on your body. You may have thought a spider or mosquitoes bit you; however, as more bites appeared, you began to realize something else was the culprit. As you begin to research possible causes, you may have been surprised to discover that you may have bed bugs in your Social Circle home.
If you have never had bed bugs, you've probably heard how troublesome they are to remove once they invade your house. While it is true that 79% of pest control professionals voted bed bugs as the most difficult pest to remove from homes, thebed bug exterminators from American Pest Control can remove them.
Our woman-owned and operated company has been removing bed bugs since 1971. We are one of the few Certified QualityPro pest control companies in the country. Our universal technicians are state certified and attend monthly continuing education classes, so they are up-to-date on the latest methods and products. Unlike many Social Circle pest control companies that have a separate customer service team, we use a universal technician model whereby the technician who receives your call and listens to your concern is the person who arrives at your home.
You probably found this article because you have been unpleasantly surprised by bed bugs in your house. Please keep reading to get the information you need to win the battle against these insidious pests.
Examining Your Home: Where To Look For Bed Bugs
Before we reveal where to search for bed bugs, we need to identify what we are looking for. Bed bugs are 1/4-inch-long insects with crinkly-looking bodies. When they are unfed, bed bugs have mahogany, flat, broad oval bodies, but when they consume a meal, they have a swollen, elongated reddish-brown body.
Bed bugs are nocturnal and feed between 1 am to 5 am while you sleep. Because they inject an anti-coagulate and anesthetic into your blood, you seldom feel them feeding and will sleep through the night while they feast on your blood. After consuming blood for five to 10 minutes, the bugs detach, fall off your body, and return to hiding places. Since bed bugs feed at night and hide during the day, they are difficult to locate unless you know where to search.
If you suspect bed bugs are inside your house, search in the following areas:
- Mattress folds
- Box springs
- Curtain folds
- Cracks between baseboards, flooring, and walls
- Behind headboards and picture frames
- Inside electrical sockets
- Upholstered furniture
- Nightstand drawer joints
- Loose wallpaper
- Carpeting
Although you can see adult bed bugs without magnification, you have a greater chance of finding evidence with a magnifying glass.
What is additional evidence for bed bugs? Because they are insects, bed bugs have an external skeleton they shed at each of their five growth stages (instars) to allow their bodies to expand. You cannot see the cream-colored shells from the first few instars without magnification, but you may be able to see the one from the last stage or two.
Another evidence that bed bugs are in your house is eggs. Female bed bugs lay the pearly white 3/64-inch eggs in wood cracks and crevices in flooring, mattress seams, nightstand corners, and joints between upholstery and wood or steal in furniture near the host. You may be able to spot older eggs because, after five days, they develop a black dot on the top; however, future offspring do not stay in the eggs long.
In homes with temperatures above 70?, 60% of the eggs will hatch in six days, and 90% will hatch in nine days. Emerging nymphs discard the shells and leave another clue of their presence. As they progress through their first four instars, the nearly translucent bugs are impossible to see without magnification, which is another reason why a magnifying glass is an important asset.
Bed bugs defecate a mixture of dried blood and feces while eating or traveling between the host and their hiding locations. The fecal matter creates a reddish-brown stain on bed linens, box springs, mattresses, and throughout the room, leaving yet another sign of their presence.
One final sign of bed bugs comes in the form of odor. Like most insects, bed bugs communicate mating desires, shelter locations, and danger using pheromones produced by glands on the underside of their bodies. A concentrated presence of bed bugs in an area depositing chemicals creates a musty odor in the room.
Our experienced American Pest Control technicians know where to search for bed bugs in Social Circle, and they know all the signs of a bed bug infestation.
Bed Bug Problems: They Aren't Just Going To Go Away
Bed bugs are frustrating because if only one fertilized female enters your home, an infestation can quickly erupt. A fertilized female bed bug must have a blood meal to produce eggs. Once it eats a meal, it will produce five to 20 eggs over the next ten days before it requires another blood meal to produce more eggs.
Most eggs hatch within nine days with a male-to-female 1:1 ratio. Under normal conditions (>70?), the nymphs will mature into reproducing adults in 37 days. When one considers that one female bed bug can produce up to 500 eggs in its short lifetime, and in less than 40 days after emerging, the bugs begin reproducing, you can understand how an infestation can double every 16 days.
In addition to their rapid reproduction rate, bed bugs have developed the ability to detect and avoid areas treated with consumer-grade insecticides. Furthermore, they have evolved a resistance to some chemicals used in DIY products. As we noted earlier, in a survey by the National Pest Management Association, pest control professionals stated that bed bugs are the most troublesome pest to remove from a home. It is foolhardy to believe that a DIY product spraying in an infested area will stop the infestation.
Our universal technicians at American Pest Control receive constant training in the latest methods and treatment products. They have the tools, experience, and knowledge to get rid of bed bugs.
Professional Bed Bug Control: Call In The Experts Right Away
When you contact American Pest Control, the technician who will remove bed bugs from your house will answer your call. By not having a middleman (customer service representative), the technician gets all the necessary details directly from you. After setting up a service call, our technician will inspect your house to search for signs of a bed bug infestation.
Upon completing the investigation, your technician will present you with a customized, strategic bed bug removal plan and answer your questions. We will treat the house with modern products that bed bugs cannot detect or avoid. Since the presence of just one fertilized female can quickly spread into another infestation, we will check your home for up to eight weeks after the treatments to ensure the bugs are gone.
If you are searching for the best bed bug control in Social Circle, look no further than American Pest Control.
Long-Term Bed Bug Prevention: Tips To Prevent Reinfestation
How do bed bugs get into your house? Unlike other pests which enter from the outside through foundation or roofline cracks, holes in window or door screens, etc., bed bugs come into the home through used furniture and people. Bed bugs are hitchhikers that use public venues as transportation hubs. Hotels, motels, theatres, buses, cabs, and other public areas are places where the bugs migrate from one person to another.
Now that you know how bed bugs get into Social Circle homes, you can understand why you should implement these recommendations:
- Place luggage on luggage racks in hotel rooms.
- Do not leave clothing on the floor in public venues.
- Store worn items in sealable plastic bags.
- Vacuum luggage and bags upon returning from a trip.
- Wash and dry clothing on high heat before storing after an excursion.
- Check clothing before entering the house after riding on public transportation.
- Do not purchase used furniture from a previously infested home.
- Inspect used items before bringing them into your home.
- Sweep the house regularly and dispose of the dirt in an outdoor sealed container.
- Suction out corners and cracks around baseboards, walls, and flooring.
- Wash and dry bed linens on high heat regularly.
- Use Protect-A-Bed® mattress encasements.
These prevention tips will help ensure you are never surprised by bed bugs in your Social Circle house again.
American Pest Control providesbed bug control in Social Circle, so you don't have to live with the misery of a bed bug infestation. Contact us today to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Social Circle and schedule your free inspection.