A review of Bed Bugs in Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire in 2010

One of the most feared and least known pests known to science is the bed bug Cimex lectularius. How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as infants with the words of our elders in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”

Bed Bugs possibly started to dine on people at around the period we moved into caves, bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and Cimex pipistrella largely fed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on our blood when our ancestors began living in bat infested caves.

Until the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were common pests in most poor quality homes.

The later half of the twentieth century saw pest control professionals reporting very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being generally restricted to cheap holiday lodgings and student lodgings etc.

Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the unaided eye, with bed bugs which most definitely are.

Adult bedbugs are reddy-brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and very engorged after a feed of human blood.

Without a suitable human meal to feed on they can stay dormant for lengthy periods of up to 18 months.

Signs of a bed bug infestation are oftenspots of blood on bed-sheets and on the seems of mattresses and many people can react extremely badly to their bites.

The first decade of the 21st century saw bed bug infestations expanding across the entire planet, the easy availability of international travel and economic migration have both been cited as reasons for the comeback.

What is definite is that that are now making a real comeback not only in poor quality properties but high class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One night stay in an infested premises is all it needs, they hide in your clothing or bags. Pest control companies are also now finding cases of transport related bed bug infestations on trains, tubes and buses so a simple journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to spread the infestation into your own home.

They are an tricky pest to eradicate as contrary to popular opinion they do not just stay in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping human target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed-side telephones etc and clearing them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been discovered 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 eradicated by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Phone Manchester Pest Control now on 01204 689361