Unless you’ve experienced a bed bug infestation in your home or workplace, you likely don’t know much about these strange little critters. These small, brown, oval-shaped insects are drawn to warm areas of the home and feed on human blood.
They’re tiny (almost too small to see) but they can wreak havoc on any unsuspecting household or business. They’re a nightmare to have around, but there’s more to bed bugs than you’d think. Read on to learn some of our favorite bizarre facts about bed bugs.
Did you know… about bed bugs?
- Bed bugs may be tiny, but they sure know how to reproduce! Their eggs are only a millimeter long and female bed bugs lay eggs every day. A female bed bug can lay a whopping 500 eggs in her lifetime.
- We don’t feel a bed bug bite when it happens because their saliva contains mild anesthetic. When we wake up, the anesthetic has worn off – only then do we realize we’ve been bitten.
- We call them bed bugs, but they don’t exclusively live in mattresses or duvet covers. Bed bugs are attracted to anything warm and dark, including furniture, luggage bags, and clothing. For this reason, it’s a good idea to wash your clothes and material bags immediately after returning from traveling. Similarly, if you buy any second-hand clothing, bags, or furniture, give them a thorough wash on a high heat before using them.
- Bed bugs drink a lot of blood, to the tune of seven times their body weight. That’s about equivalent to an average man having 120 gallons of water in his stomach.
- They’re most active at night and are canny when it comes to getting caught trying to suck a victim’s blood. Their sharp instincts mean they can resist the smell of food (humans) during the daytime when they could be spotted and killed. Bed bugs will only come out of their hiding place when the scent of exhaled carbon dioxide becomes too strong for them to ignore. This usually happens at night when the victim is asleep.
- Bed bugs may be able to ingest a lot of blood at once, but they’re picky about what they eat. They’ll only feed off a live host, avoiding blood outside of the body or spilled blood.
- They can survive almost anywhere. It’s often cockroaches that get the reputation as the ultimate hardy bug, but bed bugs are just as resilient. They can live in apartments, single-family homes, college dorm rooms, schools, hospitals, offices, on public transport, movie theaters, shopping malls, and retail stores. In other words, anywhere humans can be found, so can bed bugs.
- They have developed a resistance to pesticides, so pest control companies now have to kill them using heat instead. It’s worth noting that the heat used must be intense to kill these resilient creatures, as they can withstand temperatures from 0 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you’re concerned about an infestation in your home or business, we’re here to help. IBBRA provides all the information you need to treat a bed bug infestation, either via a DIY solution or by finding a trusted professional through our site. Click here to learn more.