Everyone deserves a good night’s sleep. After a long day on the job, on top of all your personal responsibilities, sometimes all you want to do is hit the hay and get some well-earned rest. Unfortunately, for some of us, our beds aren’t a place of rest, but a source of panic and anxiety. If you have bed bugs, a good night’s sleep is impossible to come by. Bed bugs are an embarrassing problem to have, but fortunately, bed bug infestations are common and treatable with help. If you believe you’ve got a bed bug problem in Phoenix, here’s what you need to know.
How To Identify Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are commonly mistaken for other pests. If you notice a bite mark or find a small insect in your sheets, a bed bug might not be your first guess. In fact, pests like carpet beetles, cockroach nymphs, and fleas are often mistaken for bed bugs. The trouble is if bed bugs aren’t properly identified, an infestation can take over your living space.
Bed bugs are small parasitic insects. Most only measure 3/16ths to a 1/4 of an inch in length. They have brown to reddish-brown coloration and a flat oval-shaped body but can swell to a more rounded form after feeding. It’s important to properly identify live bed bugs if you can get a hold of one since signs of a bed bug infestation are often misattributed to other pests. These blood feeders are also strangely elusive, and many people suffering from a bed bug infestation might not even see the little parasites at all. Luckily, bed bugs leave plenty of other signs that indicate their presence.
Signs Of Bed Bug Infestation
The first sign of a bed bug infestation is bite marks, appearing as tiny red irritations on the skin. Bed bugs feed on areas of skin commonly left exposed while we sleep like the face, neck, and arms. Like other parasites, these blood-feeding bed bugs produce an aesthetic when they feed. In other words, you won’t notice when they bite you. The good news is bed bugs aren’t known to spread disease., just stress and anxiety. Besides bite marks, other signs of bed bug infestation are:
- Bloodstains on sheets
- Dark spots on sheets from bed bug droppings
- Piles of shredded skin
- Tiny pearl white eggs and eggshells
In a full-fledged infestation, bed bugs are often crushed by human hosts in their sleep, creating red circles of blood. If you see an abundance of red spots on your sheets, it’s likely that you’ve got a serious bed bug problem.
Other Places Bed Bugs Hide
Your bed provides an ideal environment for bed bugs to feed and reproduce, but there are lots of other areas in your home or apartment that bed bugs can infest. When they aren’t feeding, bed bugs can be found around seams of mattresses, headboards, nightstands, and other furniture in the bedroom area. Other areas where bed bugs thrive are:
- Seams of upholstered sofas and chairs
- Under cushions
- In the folds of curtains
- In household electronics and appliances
The knack of the bed bug for hiding out of sight makes a bed bug infestation all the more frustrating. It only takes a single pregnant female to start an infestation and she is able to lay five eggs a day throughout the course of her life. A few bed bugs can soon become a few hundred if the problem is left unresolved.
If you believe you have bed bugs in your Phoenix home or apartment, call the professionals at White Knight Pest Control right away. White Knight has years of experience in treating bed bug infestations and will work to develop a treatment plan that’s right for you. Don’t wait until it’s too late, get in touch with us today for bed bug control.