Maryland Pesticide Network

BedBugs: Back for An Encore

Detection, Prevention and Least Toxic Control of Bedbugs
adapted from a Beyond Pesticides Fact Sheet by Biopestman, Alan Cohen

After many years of much reduced incidence in the United States, bedbugs have recently re-emerged as a common unwanted insect and troublesome infestation problem. Though there is no definitive consensus on what instigated this resurgence, reduced presence of DDT in the environment, increased international travel and increasing resistance to pesticide treatments are thought to be contributors. Regardless of its cause, those suffering from bed bug infestations are now having to determine how best to deal with them.

There are 74 bug species in the family Cimicidae known to feed on humans, bats, birds and other warm-blooded animals. All bedbugs are wingless and feed by hematophagy, or blood feeding. Adults are between 1/8th of an inch and 1/4 of an inch, reddish-brown in coloration and are flat and elliptical in shape, appearing somewhat like a flattened apple seed.  Immature bed bugs, or nymphs, are smaller than adults (about the size of a pin head) and are yellowish or clear before eating and red or purple afterwards. Bed bugs' antennae are segmented in four pieces, and the insects' bodies are covered in short, golden hairs. Their legs are well adapted to crawling up vertical surfaces, such as wood, paper, plaster, and with some difficultly, dirty glass.

Be Careful when Traveling: Increases in international travel is thought to have brought bedbugs back to the USA in larger numbers in recent years. But you can stop the cycle of these parasites by carrying out these simple precautions:

 

When entering your hotel room, use a luggage stand to elevate your belongings off the floor, do not place luggage or briefcases on the bed until you can do the following inspection:  

• Check the sheets, the upper and lower seams of the mattress and any cracks in the headboard for bugs. Most headboards in modern hotels can be removed and inspected easily. Look for rusty-red stains of bug fecal matter, or blood spots.
• Bedbugs are nocturnal insects, so the time to see them active is at night when they are feeding, mostly in the hours before dawn. During the day, bedbugs hide in the cracks and crevices of bed frames or headboards, along the seams of mattresses, or within box springs. In the case of more established infestations, bedbugs move further from the bed.
• They can commonly be found in the following places:
  cracks and crevices of the floor, plaster or ceiling moldings; along the edge of carpeting; under loose wallpaper; behind picture frames, wall hangings, switch plates and outlets; in drapery pleats, the upholstery of sofas or chairs or the folds of clothes hanging in the closet; in the cracks and crevices of night stands or bureaus; and inside clocks, phones, televisions and smoke detectors. Be on the lookout for tiny white eggs (1mm in length, the size of 2 grains of salt), deposited in batches of 10-50 in those areas.

If bed bugs, their fecal spots or eggs are detected, inform the manager and ask for a different room. 

 

Are these Bedbug bites?

• If you have any suspicions you were bitten by bed bugs while traveling, be sure to wash all your washable belongings with hot water (120° minimum) and borax. Though it is difficult to detect bedbugs in a suitcase, inspect and vacuum luggage after a trip. Detecting bedbugs may be as easy as realizing you are waking up with sore spots or itchy welts, often in a line.
 
• Transmission of disease by bed bugs is highly unlikely, though they can harbor pathogens in their bodies. Their medical significance is mainly limited to the itching and inflammation from their bites, which can be addressed with antihistamines and corticosteroids to reduce allergic reactions and antiseptic or antibiotic ointments to prevent infection. Anxiety, embarrassment and loss of sleep are also possible side effects of a bed bug infestation.
 

Please send your pest management questions to info@mdpestnet.org for the Bio Pestman.

Alan Cohen is a licensed commercial pest control applicator in Maryland and DC, and the president of Bio-Logical Pest Management, Inc. He also serves as the Integrated Pest management advisor to the Maryland Pesticide Network, and is a board member of Beyond Pesticides.

Click here to read Alan's Previous article about keeping pests out of your home.