One of the most feared and misunderstood pest species known to the world is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dozed off to sleep at night as young ones with the parting rhyme of our parents in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs probably started to feed on people at about the period we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella primarily feed on bats and it is likely that bat feeding species of bug evolved to feed on human beings when our forebears started sleeping} in bat infested caves.

Until the production of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace guests in most slum quality homes.

The later years of the 20th century saw pest operatives dealing with very few bed bug infestations indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap holiday homes and student accomadation etc.

Most people confuse dust mites, which aren’t visible to the naked, with bed bugs which most certainly.

Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and engorged after a feed of human blood.

Bed bugs usually feed on our blood every week or so, emerging in the hours before dawn and homing in on their target by detecting the exhaled carbon dioxide from human breath and when close in on their target, body heat.

In the absence of a suitable human meal to feed on they can lie dormant for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bugs

Signs of a bed bug infestation are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and many people can react badly to their bites.

The early part of the 21st century has seen bed bug numbers multiplying all over the planet, the easy availability of international and economic migration have both been put forward for the resurgence.

What is positive is that that are now making a real resurgence not only in slum quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough cited a doubling of bed bug infestations every year from 1995 to 2001.

One night away in an infested hotel is all it requires, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple ride to work on an infested tube or train can be sufficient to bring bed bugs to your own home.

They are an difficult pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny conveniently close to a sleeping target, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both difficult and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on flabby people.

A good way of stopping bed bug infestation is to equip your bed with Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements.

Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements stop bed bugs from gaining access to your mattress.

Visit to the Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements site for more details.

They are not a pest that can be successfully tackled by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Contact us on 01204 689361