Even though bed bugs don’t have wings and they can’t fly or jump, their small body frame and ability to live for months without any food makes them stubborn and hard to eliminate. Seams and folds of luggage, bags, and clothes are common hiding places for these pests. They also nest behind wallpaper and furniture. Farmington Hills bed bugs have are known to crawl more than 100 feet in a night, although they typically hide within 8 feet of the host’s bed.
Bed Bugs
Bedbugs hide in almost any nook and cranny and human blood has been their diet for centuries. Once Ann Arbor bed bugs nest in homes, businesses, and warm places. They can be difficult to exterminate without professional help. The best way to know for sure if you have a bedbug infestation is to see these tiny critters for yourself. The ones that typically plague humans are the common bedbug known as Cimex lectularius and the tropical bedbug Cimex hemipterus. They are flat, round and reddish-brown, and around a quarter-inch (7 millimeters) in length.
Bed Bug Infestations Hi-Tech Pest Control Livonia, Michigan
The most common cause of bed bug infestations is widely recognized as travel. Often unbeknownst to the traveler, bed bugs are accidentally transported to other properties on people, clothing, luggage, or other personal belongings.
Ann Arbor Bed Bug Lifecycle
Bed Bug Lifecycle
As small, wingless insects with flattened bodies, they can hide in tight, secluded spaces that are often out of sight, such as behind headboards or deep in upholstered furniture. Bed bugs are really good at going unnoticed by humans.
Their flat body frame also helps to protect them from being smashed or squished if one of their human hosts rolls over onto them in the middle of the night while sleeping.
Although bed bugs usually prefer to remain hidden, they will move out of their hiding spaces and look for blood to feed when a host is nearby. Bed bugs are extremely cautious about their actions even when feeding or looking for food. When they bite, they inject their victim with a mild anesthetic. This numbing concoction helps them to go unnoticed while they feed. To avoid detection, the reddish-brown insects typically wait until the middle of the night before beginning their quest for a blood meal and moving towards a host.

Bed Bug Travel

Lack of awareness and the “it will never happen to me” attitude has greatly contributed to the spread of bed bugs. Alongside food poisoning and lost luggage, bed bugs are a top concern for travelers. In the last decade, bed bugs have made a resurgence around the world. As such, they are a major source of stress for many property owners in the U.S. Both businesses and private homes experience problems with bed bugs. Today bedbugs can be found in most places in the U.S. All types of businesses can experience problems with bed bugs including retail stores, libraries, hospitals, colleges, universities, and movie theaters.  They are not limited to any specific building. They will occupy any place that is suitable and has one or more hosts.
Travel from the U.S. to distant locations where bed bugs are more common has led to the growing problem of bed bugs. As global travel has increased, this is often cited as one of the biggest contributing factors to bed bug infestations in the U.S. over these last two decades.Another common cause of bed bugs is the popularity of second-hand furniture. Bed bugs can often be introduced to a property when an infested piece of furniture is brought into a home or business.
Homeowners and renters often unintentionally bring bed bugs into their homes. This happens when they pick up discarded furniture and bring it into their homes. Not all infested items that are thrown out are marked as being bed bug-infested.

Bed Bug Precautions

Likewise, rented furniture can also be to blame. In some instances, infested property gets inadequately inspected upon its return before being rented again. Bed bugs can survive for many months without a blood meal. Consequently, simply isolating an infested piece of furniture will not get rid of bed bugs. It is best to double-check for any creatures that might be hiding on any furniture. This strategy ensures you don’t have any unwanted guests in your home. Call Today! and live pest free tomorrow! 248-569-8001 HI-TECH PEST CONTROL  

Tips to Avoid Bed Bugs When Traveling

  • Check luggage before packing and unpacking – Check your clothes for bed bugs as well as any zipped compartments. Upon your return home, re-check your luggage before unpacking to avoid spreading bed bugs to your home. Make sure to examine your luggage carefully as you pack up to return home.
  • Keep luggage away from the bed – Rentokil Steritech’s research conducted during 9,000-bed bug services in hotels over a year-long period revealed some interesting facts. Bed bugs were isolated to 5 key areas on or near the bed in more than 75% of cases. It’s recommended storing luggage in the bathroom or another location a safe distance from the bed. This strategy reduces the likelihood of bed bugs hitching on to your luggage by placing it as far away from your hotel bed as possible.
  • Inspect bed – When you arrive at your hotel, carefully inspect the bed you will be sleeping in by pulling back the sheets and closely examining the mattress and box spring seams for any signs of bed bugs. These signs may include living or dead bed bugs, which are the size of an apple seed, or black fecal smears, which can look like a permanent marker stain or trail.
  • Wash clothes – Bed bugs may survive washing, so clothes should be placed in the dryer for at least 20 minutes first to kill the bugs at any life stage, It is important to put all clothes stored in your luggage into the dryer upon your return in case bed bugs have hitched on to them not giving them any chance to find a hiding spot in your home. Heat is the key here, as it is a proven method for killing all bed bug life cycles. After drying, you can wash clothes in hot, soapy water and then dry again. Call today and live pest free tomorrow! (248)-569-8001.