These difficult to eradicate, crawling insects, are nocturnal creatures that thrive on body warmth and feed on blood. Measuring up to 5-6mm, they are difficult to spot, but are very agile and able to manoeuvre themselves into difficult hiding places. Although many people are not affected by their bites, others can suffer extreme itching and discomfort, with bites becoming swollen and infected leading to severe blistering of the skin.
Bedbug Features
Adult Bedbugs feed on the blood of humans or animals and are the tiny size of an apple seed. With oval, brown bodies, after ingesting the blood, their bodies enlarge and become a reddish colour. Unable to fly, they quickly move over ceilings, walls and floors. Over a lifetime, a female bedbug will lay hundreds of eggs, each as minute as a speck of dust.
Nymphs, or immature bedbugs, require a feast of blood each time before they shed their skins and reach maturity, (5 times). Developing to maturity in a month, these bedbug pests are capable of producing more than 3 generations each year. Bedbugs are not known to transmit disease, but they are a deadly nuisance.
Bedbug habitat
Most bedbugs will enter your home unobserved in used furniture, beds, clothing and luggage. They are able to fit their flattened bodies into narrow spaces, and will typically hide in mattresses and bed frames where they have accessibility to roam at night and bite their human prey. Unlike bees or ants, they do not live in nests but tend to hide in groups.
Eradicating Bedbugs
The initial move towards the elimination of these mites is to totally clean or remove all the affected bedding items. In some cases, it may be necessary to replace your mattress. There are many over the counter dusts, aerosols and liquids that you can apply to infested items, however, if the problems continues, you may need professional pest controllers to help.
Source URL : https://totaltermitepestcontrol.com.au/2017/10/13/bedbugs/