Bed Bug Dog Detection Service
Bed Bug Information
Bed bug on the tip of a ball point pen.
The common bed bug (cimex lectularius) is a parasite that prefers to feed on humans. Because bed bugs require blood meals to grow and reproduce, they live close to areas where people sleep, rest, or sit for long periods.
The Bed Bug Life Cycle
After mating, females lay from one to twelve eggs per day. The eggs are milky white, oval shaped and are about the size of two grains of salt. They are difficult to see without magnification. The eggs can be in cracks and crevices and are coated with a sticky substance so that they adhere to the surface. Eggs hatch in 6 to 17 days into almost transparent nymphs. They pass through five molting stages before they reach maturity, and must feed once during each of these stages. If blood is scarce, the nymphal period is greatly prolonged. Although bed bugs can live for a year or as much as eighteen months without feeding, they typically seek a blood meal every five to ten days. However nymphs and adults can live for over six months without food.
The Bed Bug Life Cycle
After mating, females lay from one to twelve eggs per day. The eggs are milky white, oval shaped and are about the size of two grains of salt. They are difficult to see without magnification. The eggs can be in cracks and crevices and are coated with a sticky substance so that they adhere to the surface. Eggs hatch in 6 to 17 days into almost transparent nymphs. They pass through five molting stages before they reach maturity, and must feed once during each of these stages. If blood is scarce, the nymphal period is greatly prolonged. Although bed bugs can live for a year or as much as eighteen months without feeding, they typically seek a blood meal every five to ten days. However nymphs and adults can live for over six months without food.
Bed bug eggs highly magnified
Bed Bug Habits
Bed bugs thrive in places with high human occupancy. Places such as motels, hotels, apartments,dormitories, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, office buildings and many other places where humans come and go. Bed bugs are nocturnal by nature, feeding at night while their hosts sleep, then retreating to a sheltered crevice by morning. Bed bugs will feed during the day when hungry.
The pests tend to congregate mostly in beds and other sleeping areas, close to where they feed. During the day, bed bugs remain in the dark, hidden in mattresses, pillows,cracks and crevices of box springs, or furniture that is near the bed. There are many other places that bed bugs can be found. Our experience and that of other canine handlers has taught us that bed bugs can be anywhere in a building.
Bed bugs can travel easily and are agile and elusive. They do not fly or jump. They crawl and are capable of traveling as far as 100 ft to feed if necessary. Bed bugs are fast in their movements, and about equal to the speed of ants.
Bed bugs thrive in places with high human occupancy. Places such as motels, hotels, apartments,dormitories, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, office buildings and many other places where humans come and go. Bed bugs are nocturnal by nature, feeding at night while their hosts sleep, then retreating to a sheltered crevice by morning. Bed bugs will feed during the day when hungry.
The pests tend to congregate mostly in beds and other sleeping areas, close to where they feed. During the day, bed bugs remain in the dark, hidden in mattresses, pillows,cracks and crevices of box springs, or furniture that is near the bed. There are many other places that bed bugs can be found. Our experience and that of other canine handlers has taught us that bed bugs can be anywhere in a building.
Bed bugs can travel easily and are agile and elusive. They do not fly or jump. They crawl and are capable of traveling as far as 100 ft to feed if necessary. Bed bugs are fast in their movements, and about equal to the speed of ants.
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Bed Bug Infestation
The numerical size of a bed bug infestation is to some degree variable, as it is a function of the elapsed time from the initial infestation. However a single female bed bug brought into a home that lays eggs on day 1 can be responsible for between 150 and 360 bed bugs by month's end. If 40 bed bugs are placed in a room, their population can grow to 6,000 in 6 months time. With this type of geometric population explosion, it is not hard to understand why early detection is so important. Because not everyone reacts to bites in the same way and because the bugs feed about every five days, one can easily see why people in the same household may have different opinions about whether bed bugs are present at all. The presence of bed bugs may be undetected for months because the hosts show no or mild reaction to the bites, and the bites occur intermittently. |
Bed Bug Bites
Bed bugs are attracted by body heat and the carbon dioxide we exhale. The bugs tend to bite all over the body, especially on the areas that are more exposed while we sleep. The bug first pierces the skin with two hollow tubes. With one tube , it injects saliva which contains anticoagulants and anesthetics. It withdraws the blood of it's host with the second tube. The bug will feed for five to ten minutes, then drop off it's host and crawl to it's sheltered crevice where it will remain for several days while digesting it's meal. The bites cannot usually be felt until minutes or hours later,if at all. People differ in their sensitivity to bed bug bites. Some have no symptoms, while others can break out in rashes from the bites. |
Call us at 413-537-7584 or e-mail: contactus@nebedbugdetection.com