An important step in bed bug prevention is knowing how structures become infested. Travel and acquiring used furniture or bedding are common ways to bring bed bugs into your home. Much has been reported about bed bug infestations in hotels and motels and in college dorms, apartments, and retail stores. Less known locations are movie theaters, libraries, hospitals, nursing homes, airplanes, airport shuttle vans, cruise ships, taxi cabs, buses, trains, and fire departments. If you see bed bugs or suspect that your home or business is infested, contact a professional exterminator immediately. Lethal Pest Solutions is your bed bug professional. We offer bed bug control in Cherry Hill, Gloucester, Mt Laurel, Marlton, Warminster, and the surrounding areas of Camden County, Burlington County, Bucks County and more.
We are your local bed bug control professionals
Bed bugs can hide in tiny places and are great hitchhikers. Bed bugs have been found in some unlikely places such as a wheelchair, school backpacks, stuffed animals, backyard dog house, childproof cap of prescription pill bottle, baseball glove, dental bridge of false teeth, and the holes in a kitchen sponge.
When traveling, it is important to check your room. Look for bed bugs where you sleep and where you typically set down luggage or bags when you enter. Look particularly around boxsprings, mattresses, bed frames, headboards, tufts, folds, and buttons on mattresses and furniture, such as desks and chairs. Also inspect luggage stands or other areas where suitcases are typically set down. Be aware of any unexplained bites you may find in the morning that could be the result of bed bugs. Also watch for fecal spots, which could occur on bed sheets or nearby areas. Inspect your luggage when you get home after a trip before you bring it inside. If you have a student living at college, make sure to inspect everything they bring home, especially laundry.
Used furniture scavenging is another source of bed bugs. Bed bug infestations are not limited to beds and mattresses. They can be found on tables, drawers, and electronics when located in a bedroom.
Most people have never seen a bed bug. Adults are wingless, about one-fourth of an inch long, and flat to fit in cracks and crevices where they usually hide during the daytime. They are similar in appearance to a wood tick. After the bug has taken a blood meal, its color will change from brown to purplish-red. Also after feeding, it is larger and more cigar-shaped making it appear like a different insect. Young bed bugs are much smaller (1/16″ when they first hatch) and nearly colorless except after feeding, but resemble adults.
Know when to call a professional exterminator
If you suspect a problem with bed bugs it is very important that you act quickly and contact a pest management professional to conduct a thorough inspection and evaluate the situation. While pathogens have been found in bed bugs, they apparently do not transmit diseases to humans. Bed bugs are extremely difficult to control, especially if they are not caught early.
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