Grasping Bed Bug Behavior

Bed bugs are a vermin which few people truly understand. They aren’t exactly dangerous, but their nightly feeding habits are disgusting, habits no reasonable person should have to live with. Understanding bed bug habits can help you get a grasp for these elusive little buggers.

First of all, if your home is infested with bed bugs, it may be hard to notice. That’s because bed bugs are only temporary ectoparasites. This means they don’t live on their host, like a flea or tick. Instead, they feed when they’re hungry, take their fill, and hide the rest of the day in small crevices.

This makes finding bed bugs extremely difficult at times, but there is some good news: most bed bug colonies exist no more than eight feet away from their host’s resting area. Arguably their greatest weakness, it helps exterminators pin-point their location much more accurately.

And once you find one bed bug, you’re going to find hundreds, if not thousands, more. Bed bugs are not exactly social, like ants or termites. They don’t have rigidly defined castes and roles or queen bed bugs. However, they do prefer to live in large groups.

Where are bed bugs most likely to show up in your home? Any kind of crevice in which they can squeeze. For example, bed bugs have been found hiding out in:

• ·         Cracks in Door Frames
• ·         Larger Wall Cracks
• ·         Between Ceiling Tiles
• ·         Underneath Mattresses
• ·         Inside of Electronic Items

Bed bugs are also unmistakable visually: small, round, black, and flat. If you spot any in your home, especially far away from your bed, you may have a serious infection. Call a professional as soon as possible.