Bed Bug Bites in Altrincham, Sale, and Timperley in 2010

One of the most feared and misunderstood pests known to mankind is the bed bug Cimex lectularius. How many of us fell asleep to sleep at night as kids with the words of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”

Bed Bugs may have started to dine on mankind at around the time we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to dine on the blood of human beings when our ancestors started living in bat infested caves.

Up to the arrival of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common unwelcome guests in most poor quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century saw pest control operatives reporting very few bed bug problems indeed, their presence being mainly restricted to cheap holiday hotels and student lodgings etc.

A lot of people confuse dust mites, which can’t be seen by to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which very definitely are.

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

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

The first signs of a bed bug infestation are usuallyspots of blood on sheets 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 infestations exploding across the whole world, the easy availability of world 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 properties but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

A single away in an infested premises is all it requires, they hitch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on trains, tubes and buses so a simple journey home on an infested tube or train can be sufficient to bring the these pests into your own home.

They are an tricky pest to deal with as contrary to popular belief they do not just hide in beds. They infest any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and eradicating them is both difficult 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 tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Phone Manchester Pest Control now on 0161 930 8814