Bed bugs are very small, ranging from 1-5.5mm in length, so it may be hard to detect them with the naked eye. However, if you do spot one, how do you know that it is a bed bug and not some other insect?
Fortunately, bed bugs have some distinguishable features which can help you to identify them. Their appearance will change throughout the course of their lifetime as they go through seven different phases, beginning from egg and culminating in fully-fledged adult.
The eggs are off-white in colour and only 1mm in size. If you look very closely, you will see that they look like two grains of salt stuck together. After five days an egg will have a tiny, darker spot on it.
Bed bugs which have had a blood meal will look engorged and be a reddish-brown colour. After eating they can reach as much as 6mm in length. An adult bed bug will have a beak, antennae, wings and cone-shaped eyes.
You can also tell if you have bed bugs from their bite. They are nocturnal so tend to feast during the night whilst you are sleeping. At first you may not notice a bed bug bite as they are painless at the beginning but gradually become itchy. Bed bug bites appear on any part of the skin which has been exposed during the night. Unlike flea bites, bed bug bites do not have a red spot at the centre.
There are also other ways to tell if you have a bed bug infestation. You may have tiny blood stains on your bedding or small dark spots on your mattress, wall and bed covers which are actually bed bug excretion.
Bed bugs are cunning creatures and like to hide in all sorts of places. They can enter your home from many different sources such as backpacks, suitcases, parcels, antique furniture or even laundry bags if you have been at the laundrette.
Unfortunately, bed bugs can live for up to a year without feeding, so they could be lurking anywhere unnoticed for a long time.
What causes bed bugs in your home is the fact that they are crafty hitchhikers, skilled at taking opportunities to be transported from one dwelling place to another. They will awaken from their hibernation when they realise there is a source of food available.
What measures can I take to prevent bed bugs from infesting my house?
Since they are such cunning little critters, what causes bed bugs to infest your home isn’t a lack of housekeeping on your part. How clean or messy your house is has nothing to do with whether you risk having an infestation on your hands.
There are, however, some practical tricks you can adopt to try and prevent them from reaching your house. Here are a few:
- If you are staying at a hotel, look for signs of a bed bug infestation. You don’t want to accidentally bring them home in your luggage.
- Be vigilant when buying used furniture. Check for signs of bed bugs before purchasing.
- Before moving into a new house, check with the previous owners or landlord if there has ever been any signs of bed bugs. You’ll also want to check for signs yourself.
