How to find bed bugs in an apartment. Search for bed bugs.

If you feel discomfort at night, and the next morning you wake up with red blisters on your skin, then most likely bed bugs are in your house. Most often, people attribute this to allergic reactions, and the idea that they can be bitten by these small parasites does not come immediately. But, realizing that these are still bugs, you need to find their habitats and get rid of insects.

Appearance

Content

Before looking for a habitat for "domestic vampires" it is worth examining what they look like. This will help distinguish them from other malicious "guests" in the home. An adult hungry representative of the species has a flat body. It has no wings. Body length - 3-4 mm. And after eating, it increases to 7-8 mm. The color depends on the level of satiety. It can be light brown, and change to brown.

Once a week, sometimes less often, arthropods feed. If there are no food sources, they are able to go into suspended animation for 12 months. Life expectancy is up to 18 months. Females lay eggs regularly. They find hard-to-reach places. Therefore, it is difficult for the owners to understand where the bedbug nest may be in the house.

The egg looks like a grain of rice. But it's smaller in size. The length reaches 1 mm or shorter. It is impossible to see it without a magnifying glass. The egg is yellowish, transparent or beige. It has a tough shell with a sticky substance that helps it adhere to various surfaces. Therefore, they remain not only on horizontal but also on vertical surfaces of objects.

6-12 pieces are deposited at a time. To increase the chances of survival of the offspring, the female does not leave them in one place, but chooses several nests. This must be taken into account when figuring out how to find a bedbug nest in a room. If conditions are right, the egg lays for 5 days. Under poor conditions, the larva will appear in 25.

Stages

A nymph emerges from a bug's egg. This is what entomologists call the larva. It can be 0.5 mm long. But sometimes it reaches 2 mm. The shape of the body resembles an adult. But the nymphs are transparent. Examining the nests of bedbugs in the couch of a photo with nymphs, you can see that the contents of the insides are visible in them.

As she matures and grows, her shell comes off. It does not grow with the larva. For the entire time, the nymph molt process occurs 5 times. It takes 25-39 days until it turns into an adult bloodsucker.

They go out at night to find food, and during the day they sit in the shelter.

Interesting! Those who are worried about these bloodsuckers need to know what a bedbug nest looks like. This is a disorderly accumulation of their eggs and chitin shells left by the larvae. In the nests there are also small traces of the vital activity of individuals with a specific smell. It contains adult "domestic bloodsuckers" and their larvae.

In the next article we will tell you: How to deal with domestic bugs in an apartment with folk remedies?

Who are bed bugs and what do they look like?

Bed bugs are small, blood-sucking parasitic insects that live where humans or warm-blooded animals live. They feed only on blood, mostly human. If the owners are not at home for a long time, then the bugs can get enough of the blood of pets, but this is a fairly rare case. Insects are not whimsical, the main thing that they need for life is access to human blood and a comfortable temperature regime... The ideal temperature for them is 25-30 degrees, the same as for humans. They attack a person at night when he is sleeping. The activity starts at three in the morning and lasts until 8 in the morning. If the bug is very hungry, it can attack during the day, but this is a very rare case.

Bed bugs live on average one year, maximum one and a half (at low temperatures). In cases where they cannot provide themselves with food, they are able to fall into a state that allows them to do without blood for a year.

You can recognize a bug by its characteristic flattened body, the length of which reaches from 3 to 8.5 millimeters, body color: from dirty yellow to dark brown. A proboscis is located on the head, with which the bug pierces the human skin and drinks blood.

An insect saturated with blood can double and become less active.

Parasites have three stages of development: egg, nymph or larva, adult. Blood nutrition is necessary for each of them.

Video: bed bugs

Traces

If parasites have settled in the house, this will not be noticeable immediately. Because of this, the initial stage of infection is difficult to capture. Before you find the bedbug nest, you can understand that the guests have already settled in the rooms. This is determined by the following features.

Bites are a sign that bed bugs already have nests. In the morning, punctures can be seen on the body, located linearly. There are several bites in each lane. Each wound is a small red spot that looks like a blister. It is swollen with a small bump in the middle. Looking more closely, you can see a puncture in the middle of the bite site. When an insect has drunk blood, it becomes vulnerable to any influence. In a dream, a person can accidentally crush him. After that, in the morning, you can see dark small traces of brown color.
In the rooms where these unpleasant guests live, there is also their droppings. It is a waste product, similar to poppy seeds. They stay on the bed, wallpaper. If bedbug nests are found in the apartment, there will also be their droppings.
On the floor, furniture surfaces, there are shells dropped by the nymphs.
In a room with bedbug nests, there will be a characteristic smell. It is similar to the aroma of cognac. Some eyewitnesses say that it resembles a raspberry that has begun to ferment.

Before you find a nest of bed bugs, make sure that they really are in the house. This is not difficult to do. It is recommended to set the alarm for 3 hours before going to bed. After his signal, the light is turned on very quickly, remove the blanket. Most likely, it will be possible to consider several arthropods on the body and bed. If there are still a few of them, in order to identify them, the procedure is repeated after a few days.

There is another popular method. The bed is glued along the edge with double-sided tape. Insects will stick to it and can be seen in the morning.

Where to looking for

Many do not know how to find a bedbug nest in an apartment. It is almost impossible to find them by accident. They choose safe and dark corners. Therefore, the entire room is inspected very scrupulously. They get into the house in different ways. They can penetrate through the ventilation from neighbors, through small cracks. People and pets bring them from the street on their own. Bloodsuckers can easily walk a few meters. They are brought from trips along with luggage or brought with purchases. If a person was visiting an infected house, he can bring several individuals on himself.

In the next article we will tell you: What sizes are bed bugs? Photo and description!

Bedbugs nest in a sofa or bed is not uncommon. After all, these unpleasant guests settle where they can easily reach the victim. But if the house is small, then any place will be close to the bed, and the shelter can be everywhere.

If the bloodsuckers still settled with you, it will be useful to know how to find the bedbug nest. It will take a lot of patience, gloves and a bright flashlight.Armed with these things, all furnishings and décor are scrutinized.

These "little vampires" have favorite places where they live most often.

They start with a berth. Once in the room, they first settle down in mattresses, upholstered furniture. In such conditions, they are comfortable. They hide there between hunting trips and reproduce successfully. The food source is also nearby. They quickly find it and feed. The joints of the mattress are examined carefully. If small dark balls are visible, it is feces. Most likely, the mattress will have to be opened. Insects come out of the shelter reluctantly. They do not tolerate the smell of kerosene, vinegar. You can see what their shelter looks like on the bedbug nests of the photo.
They also hide in frame furniture. Examine dressers, wardrobes, tables, bedside tables. All shaded corners are illuminated with a flashlight. But arthropods can live in synthetic clothing or bedding. Illuminate the joints of parts, all fixtures, drawers and shelves.
Most often, insects sit on the back walls of furniture, under carpets hanging on the walls or lying on the floor. If there is a carpet on the wall, they will definitely settle under it. Bloodsuckers will gradually occupy all unlit places that are difficult to get to. They are afraid of the light, when it appears, they begin to scatter.
You should inspect all the walls behind the tightly pushed back furniture, which did not move for a long time, near the radiators, window sills, inside the cornices. These are the places where you need to look for bed bugs in the first place. If there are cracks in the wall, you should definitely look in there. They also examine the baseboards.
Linoleum peeling off the floor, slightly peeled wallpaper are good shelters. They are found behind paintings, inside outlets, books, even toys. Reading, I can not find a nest of bugs forum, you can find out that now they live inside the technology.

What to do if bed bugs are found

If bugs are found, you need to act immediately. Insects reproduce very quickly, it is very difficult to get rid of them when the colony is huge. There are several ways to deal with them:

folk remedies (if the population of bedbugs is very small),
special insecticidal preparations,
call the sanitary and epidemiological service.

If there are few bugs, then you can try to remove them using folk methods. Usually, vinegar, kerosene, turpentine or essential oils are used for this. The substance is applied to all surfaces in the room, as well as to all hard-to-reach places: cracks, cracks, etc.

For a more serious struggle, you can resort to the help of special drugs, which are presented in large quantities on the modern market. They are available as:

emulsions,
aerosols,
powders (dusts),
sprays, etc.

Each drug has its own rules of use. In most cases, personal protective equipment such as a respirator, rubber gloves and goggles is required.

If you want to get rid of bedbugs with the help of professionals, then you should call the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service. The main thing is to contact trusted companies after reading the reviews, since there are many offices that do not fulfill their promises, and the bugs remain in the room and continue to torment the residents.

In the bed

If insects are found, it is important to know how to find a bed bug nest in a sofa or bed. But first, it is recommended to prepare mentally, to overcome disgust. The sight of this insect on the bed will be disgusting. The nests also look very unpleasant. If the owners are sure that the parasites have settled with them, during the search, special means must be prepared in advance to destroy them. First, carefully examine the mattress. Take off all linen, mattress topper. First, the surface is carefully examined, whether there are shells and waste products on it. It is well necessary to examine the seams and all the holes, if any.If these signs are visible, the mattress should be ripped open. If it is difficult to determine the egg-laying, it is recommended to consider the bedbug nest in the apartment photo. You need to act depending on what is discovered. If there are a lot of insects, the mattress is heavily contaminated, it is recommended to throw it away or burn it. This is especially true for old products. It is easier to replace it than to take out "uninvited guests" using expensive means. When the mattress has been fully inspected, the springs, mountings and body are examined. To check for masonry and on the floor, the bed or sofa is pushed back. There, parasites also often hide during the day.

In the next article we will tell you: What do the eggs and larvae of domestic bed bugs look like?

Other means

It is not always possible to get to the nesting site, especially when it comes to a private house, so you need to fight against insects in other ways. The choice is very wide, familiarize yourself with each of them and determine which method is most convenient for you:

Gels. Most of them contain substances designed to attract attention. An ant touching a gel applied to a vertical or horizontal surface can carry enough to infect a large number of individuals and, possibly, the uterus itself. The action manifests itself over time, usually a month of active use is enough to achieve the required result;
Crayons, dusts. While not as toxic as gels, they take longer to kill insects. Draw lines along all the paths, update them as necessary. If there is no stable effect within two months, use more effective drugs;
Traps. The mechanical method in the form of double-sided tape will reliably protect important places from the invasion of black insects. The method requires minimal effort and expense on the part of the homeowner; various baits, most often poisoned, are used to attract to the adhesive surface.

Each method is effective in its own way, but the work of cleaning the house from ants can be considered completely completed only if they do not appear inside the living space within three months.

In the couch

Before destroying a bedbug nest, it should be found. They settle in a variety of shelters. But fabric sofas are favorites for shelter furnishings. Most of all, they like to settle in old sofas that have remained from the Soviet era. First, they examine the armrests, areas at the joints of furniture elements. All recesses, which are difficult to look into and shine a flashlight, are recommended to be examined using an old plastic card. If it is possible to extract excrement and shells from the depressions, this indicates that there is masonry nearby.

Good to know! Often the shelter of bloodsuckers is under the upholstery of upholstered furniture. Sometimes you have to rip it open. The sofa is pushed back, they look through the walls that adjoined the back. Chances are good that the parasites live there as well. It is a suitable place for them, dark and warm.

If the infection is insignificant, you can eliminate arthropods by applying special insecticides. Before that, it is better to study the tips on this topic well. Today you can read a lot of information on the topic - found a nest of bedbugs what to do.

But if the infection is strong, unfortunately, the furniture will have to be thrown away.