Wondering if there are bedbugs in your home can be stressful to say the least. If you wake up with itchy areas you didn’t have when you went to sleep, it is certainly a possibility – particularly if you got a used bed or other used furniture around the time the bites started.
Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds and couches, and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces, about the width of a credit card. These bugs do not have nests like ants or bees but tend to live in groups in hiding places.
Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night. Over time, however, they may scatter through the bedroom, moving into any crevice or protected location. They may also spread to nearby rooms or apartments.
Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. The adults have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color. Identifying these parasites and removing them from your home or business can be a difficult task.
If you suspect an infestation, remove all bedding and check it carefully for signs of the bugs or their excrement. Remove the dust cover over the bottom of the box springs and examine the seams in the wood framing. Also peel back the fabric where it is stapled to the wood frame.
Check the area around the bed, including inside books, telephones or radios, the edge of the carpet, and even in electrical outlets. Check your closet, because the bugs can attach to clothing.
Signs to look for may include:
- Exoskeletons left after molting.
- Bedbugs in the fold of mattresses and sheets.
- Rust-colored blood spots left by the blood-filled fecal material that they excrete on the mattress or nearby furniture.
- A sweet, musty odor.
Immature bedbugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Under favorable conditions, the bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year. That adds up to a big problem in a short time. This is why it is crucial to identify and treat the problem as soon as possible.
An infestation of bedbugs in Kansas City requires the assistance of a pest professional and is not something a homeowner can handle on their own. Milberger Pest Control technicians have been specially trained to inspect each room thoroughly for the presence of bed bugs, and to target treat the sites where they are located. If you are concerned about an infestation in your Kansas City home or business, call (816) 761-1313 in Missouri or (913) 384-6760 in Kansas, or click here to schedule your free inspection today!
