Pest controllers know that bedbugs pay no attention to the class of home, hotel or dwelling when they are looking for a new home.
Bedbugs are just as likely to be found in a luxury hotel as in a guest house or hostel. A recent example of this was illustrated perfectly in an article in the Pest magazine. It was reported that for the 1st time ever bedbugs had been found in the Parliamentary Palace and estate.
For the untrained eye, many people get confused with bedbugs and bed mites. We are called out regularly with people reporting they have bedbugs when they have in fact bed mites and vice versa.
We all have bed mites in our homes in the mattresses and pillows no matter how clean our property is. Bed mites are microscopic and are not visible to the naked eye. They live off the dead skin and fluids that we deposit as we sleep.
Bedbugs, however, are totally different. They are visible and an adult bedbug is around the size of one of the buttons on your TV remote control. These little pests are reddy brown in colour, round in shape with a flattened appearance. They change colour to a purple shade when they have had a blood feed – Off us!!
The reason they are so difficult to eradicate is that these little critters hide in the most diverse places such as plug sockets, headboards, bedside cabinets, bed frames and in fact, just about anywhere that people may sleep i.e on the sofa or in Aunty Elsie’s favourite fireplace seat! These Insects come out to feed when we go to sleep and emit CO2. Then they go back in their hidey holes until we fall asleep again and its dinner time all over again.
So remember as half term approaches and you may go off for a little well-earned break – Don’t bring back an unwanted souvenir from your travels. Check the beds where you are staying.
PDF (Pest Doctor Fact):
Did you now that bedbugs can be found on planes and various forms of public transport? They use these vehicles to hitch a ride home with us!