Royal Oak Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) have been almost entirely removed from North America due to mass treatments with highly toxic insecticides that are no longer in use.

Frequent travel, improved methods of treatment that target other insects without harming bed bugs, and lack of public knowledge have contributed to an increase in the spread of bed bugs.

How to identify them

For help classifying any suspected specimens of bed bugs, contact an expert.

The University of Minnesota’s “Let’s Beat the Bed Bug” campaign found that 76 percent of the samples submitted for identification are not bedbugs.

  • -The adult bed bugs are about 1/4 “to 3/8” long (5-9 mm) oval, rounded, brown, and wingless species. These are similar to a wood tick in appearance.
  • -Once a blood meal has been taken by the bug his color changes from brown to purplish-red and it becomes bigger and more cigar-shaped.
  • -Young bed bugs resemble adults in shape but when they first hatch they are much smaller, 1/16 “(1.6 mm). Except after feeding, they are almost colorless.

What’s their life cycle

  • -Females lay small, oval eggs (1/16″long) in cracks and crevices after mating.
  • -In her lifetime a single bed bug can lay between 200 and 250 eggs.
  • -In 6 to 10 days, the eggs hatch and the newly emerged nymphs seek a meal for blood.
  • -Immature nymphs molt five times before reaching adulthood (they shed their outer exoskeletons).
  • -There could be three generations or more each year. All ages are present within a population that reproduces.
  • -Adult bed bugs can live in normal circumstances for around 2 to 4 months.

Bed bugs need to feed at least once before each molt, although they could feed as often as once a day.

Livonia, Michigan – What is the Life Cycle of a Bed Bug

Young nymphs can live for days to several months without a blood meal. Older nymphs and adults can live longer under favorable conditions with no blood meal for up to a year.

In classrooms, shopping stores, office buildings, libraries, and other public places, bed bugs are also present.

Signs you may have Bed Bugs

Look where you sleep. Usually, bed bugs are clustered together in out of the way places. But certain bed bugs, hidden from the rest of an infestation, will live on their own. The easiest way to test for an infestation is to scan for bugs in the bed where you sleep or rest.

Look particularly on and around in bedrooms:

  • -Box Springs, mattresses, bed frames, tufts, folds and mattress buttons
  • -Furniture such as desks and chairs
  • -Wallpapers, photos and clocks
  • -Cracks in wooden floors and under the tapestry edge

Be cautious when you are traveling

The best chance to encounter bed bugs is while you’re traveling. Checking your room while on holiday is a healthy habit.

Take a look at your luggage where you usually put it when you reach your home and where you store it after you fly.

Although bed bugs are most frequently found in bedrooms, infestations can occur in other rooms including bathrooms, living rooms, and laundry rooms.