Furniture bugs, what they look like and what danger they pose to humans

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Such small blood-sucking parasites, like furniture bugs, choose secluded places of human apartments for habitation. These insects are synanthropic, that is, living next to a person and to some extent dependent on him. Insects dominated the Earth long before humans appeared. Over millions of years, bedbugs have acquired truly limitless adaptive abilities. It is for this reason that it is very difficult to fight them - insects quickly develop resistance to poisons, and mechanical methods of extermination are ineffective due to the high reproduction rate.

Insect appearance

If bugs in the sofa are your find, you shouldn't hesitate: you need to immediately start fighting with them. However, not everyone will understand that it is a bug in front of them. What does he look like? These insects are usually easy to recognize. The size of the bug rarely exceeds 7 mm. Most often this individual is only 3-4 mm long. True, having been saturated with blood, they significantly increase in size.
This bug has a special proboscis. It's sharp enough to pierce skin and suck blood. The color of the bug varies with the degree of saturation. When he is hungry, his color is yellow. After the so-called eating, it becomes darker, acquiring a brown tint. And if you have already found an almost black bug, you should know: he has already drunk his fill of someone's blood.

The insect is quite dense and flat in body structure. This makes him practically invulnerable. The first sign that it is furniture bugs in front of you is the fact that a bloodsucker is difficult to crush, unlike other insects. Therefore, when a person sleeps, he does not kill the bug with his own weight.

Destruction of bedbugs in the apartment

There are a number of effective, proven ways to deal with bed bugs. Each of the options has both advantages and disadvantages.

Insecticide control

On the market for chemical control agents there is a wide selection of agents in different forms of release. These are aerosols, pencils, powders and gels.

Aerosols are distinguished by ease of use, which allow you to quickly destroy parasites if there are isolated cases of infection.

Attention! Aerosols are chemicals with a certain degree of toxicity and therefore must be handled with care. When working with poisonous substances, use personal protective equipment.

The use of such aerosols is recommended:

Raid.
Dichlorvos Neo.
Prima - U.
Raptor.

Powders such as "Neopin", "Riapina", "Klopoverona", etc. can be sprayed in typical places of accumulation. The use of chemicals is limited if children, pets, pregnant women, allergy sufferers and elderly, frail family members live in the apartment.

It is possible to use such gels:

Globol.
Fas.
Insectogel.
Blockbuster.

The apartment is being processed in several stages, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to destroy the entire colony at once. Bed bugs can lay eggs in places where drugs cannot reach.

Calling pest controllers

This approach allows you to deal with these parasites with a 100% guarantee. Since they are professionals in their field, they have all the necessary equipment and a set of drugs. This allows you to destroy insects in a short period of time and with a guarantee.Naturally, you will have to pay a lot for such services. For processing a one-room apartment, you will have to pay about 1,500 rubles.

If bedbugs appear in the apartment, it is advisable to find out where they came from, as well as what attracted them. After that, you should start a fight with them, in parallel eliminating the causes of their appearance, otherwise they will appear again after a while.

What furniture bugs look like

Often people find that itchy spots appear on the body, but at the same time they have never seen any insects in their bed. This is the first sign that it's time to examine your furniture for bed bugs.

Bites are usually similar to mosquito bites, only rarely are they isolated. Since the bug has to bite through the skin several times in order to get enough, a kind of "paths" of inflamed ulcers remain on the human body.

They can be found anywhere: on the arms, back, buttocks. Less often, insects bite on the face. Children especially suffer from these ulcers. Babies scratch the area hard, which requires the use of antihistamines.

The reaction can be completely unpredictable. In some cases, the inflamed bite sites greatly increase in size.

Young individuals prefer the skin of women and children, because it is easier to bite through it.

As soon as you see red spots in the child, which not only itch and itch, but also hurt, immediately smear the damaged areas of the body with soothing skin agents, give an antihistamine.

Typical signs:

The flattened wingless body is distinguished by a dark color that ranges from dirty yellow to brown.
On the head there is a proboscis with 2 channels, one for absorbing blood, and through the second the insect lets saliva into the wound with anesthetic effect.
On the back there are glands that secrete a secret with a pungent odor. It is designed to scare away enemies, the presence of a smell in a closet or wardrobe becomes a sign of the presence of harmful inhabitants.

Females have a high ability to reproduce and a single fertilization is enough to make clutches throughout life. If you examine the cracks in the apartment where the little bloodsuckers have settled, then the eggs can be found in the bed, behind the cabinets and paintings, in the wardrobe. It is not difficult to distinguish them from the clutches of other parasites, since there are clusters of adults, discarded chitin and excrement around.

The appearance of the eggs makes them easy to identify:

They are distinguished by their oblong shape and whitish color.
The size does not exceed 3 mm.
At one end you can see a cap through which the nymph will later get out.

A week later, nymphs appear from them, outwardly little different from adults, the difference lies in the small size of the body and the transparency of chitin. Unlike sexually mature representatives, they do not have the ability to relieve bites, so they annoy the sleeping people the most.

The specificity of the breeding of bedbugs

If cockroaches start in a house where the sanitary condition leaves much to be desired, then little bloodsuckers settle even in clean housing. They enter the premises in different ways:

It won't take much time to penetrate from a neighboring apartment, because a single female is able to establish an entire colony.
Furniture comes into contact even when buying new furnishings, but usually harmful insects hide in old wardrobes or beds, making nests in cracks.
A bloodsucker can be brought on clothes, it is enough to spend the night in an infected hotel for him to settle on a jacket. Once in an unfamiliar place, do not put a jacket or jacket on the sofa - the fresh smell of a person will attract parasites.
Even small rodents can carry a harmful insect that can feed on their blood.

Once in the room, bloodsuckers take up its development. The female lays up to 500 eggs, and she will not need regular fertilization! The high survival rate of the species is due to a special way of reproduction, which allows it to maintain its numbers even in unfavorable conditions.

In the course of insemination, called traumatic, the male attacks the female, pierces the chitin and injects the seed. It remains in the female's body and is consumed as needed. One fertilization is enough for the female to lay clutches throughout her life.

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This bloodsucking lives long enough: from a year to one and a half. All this time, bugs are actively multiplying. During this period, the female gives birth to about half a thousand new individuals. Bedbug eggs are white. Not larger than a grain of rice. Over time, babies become like their parents, hatching from an egg.

Many people find places where eggs are laid in the seams of furniture. It is there that the darkened husks from the eggs remain, as well as the excrement of these insects. Bedbug eggs aren't just found in upholstered furniture. They can be in closets as well as behind skirting boards. This makes the process of getting rid of bloodsuckers extremely difficult.

Where to go

You can contact:

to the management company - it is better to write a collective statement that the neighbors violate sanitary standards;
the sanitary and epidemiological service - after a complaint is received, its employees have the right to come to the house with a check and issue a conclusion, which will indicate that the residents are violating the SanPiN norms;
Rospotrebnadzor - after considering the application, negligent residents may be fined a thousand rubles, which is likely to make them think;
court - you can defend your interests in this instance by filing a statement of claim, but this will require financial costs.

Unfortunately, in order to recover something from the culprits or force them to carry out treatment for bedbugs, it is necessary to prove that it is their apartment that serves as a breeding ground for insects. It is very difficult to do it yourself.

We will help you solve the problem efficiently and in a short time. We regularly hold promotions for the processing of several premises, so our services are inexpensive to our clients. For all questions, call us on the contact phone.

How to tell a bug from other insects

To take effective measures, you need to determine which insects to deal with:

The flea is distinguished by its longer legs, as well as the presence of antennae and thorns on the upper part of the chitinous cover, which the bug does not have - the transverse stripes on its back become a clear identifying feature. Flea larvae bear no resemblance to nymphs and resemble small worms.
There is little similarity between the furniture bug and the cockroach, but the larvae in the early stages of development can be difficult to distinguish from nymphs. The main sign will help to cope with the task - future cockroaches are more mobile, and a bright spot can be seen on their chest and head.
It is not easy to tell the difference between ticks and bedbugs, since they are not very large. You can navigate by the number of legs: arachnid ticks have 4 pairs, and bedbugs have 3.

It is worth adjusting for the main differences, and it will become easier to choose measures to combat!

Why are they dangerous?

Furniture bugs are quite insidious insects. They bring a person terrible discomfort, feeding on his blood. Usually a hungry bug goes hunting at night. At this time, people are asleep and do not feel pain. In addition, in the process of a bite, insects use a special substance with an anesthetic. Therefore, the bug is difficult to catch at this moment.

It is believed that this insect is a carrier of dangerous diseases such as smallpox, plague and even tuberculosis. However, it has no evidence base.But one thing can be said for sure: if the bite is combed hard, any infection can get into the wound. Especially if there are many such wounds. As a rule, this process is difficult to control, especially in children.

Prevention measures

In order not to bring dangerous parasites into the house and not to guess where they come from in a clean apartment, one should take into account both the reasons for their appearance, and the possibility of existence in the room where it is planned to move. By handling furniture after hand-made purchases or by taking action while away from your home, you can protect your home from unwanted tenants entering.

How to remove bedbugs from an apartment or house

Bed bugs

Furniture bugs: where do they come from?

Having found this insect in their apartment, people ask a completely logical question: how could it be here? The opinion that they appear as a result of unsanitary conditions is mistaken. This is not at all the case: bedbugs "come to visit" from the outside. If they do not bother neighbors, and no one is trying to get rid of them, bloodsuckers breed beyond measure and spread to nearby houses. For example, they can get to you through a ventilation or a door. There are cases when these insects made their way into neighboring apartments through sockets.

It is dangerous to invite friends who have complained about bedbugs. People can bring them on their clothes or in a bag.

Very often bugs are found in the couch, which was bought from hands. They are not so easy to see, therefore, when purchasing furniture from your hands, carefully inspect it. Particularly hard-to-reach places: seams, cushions, upholstery.

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It happens that bedbugs are brought home by those who often travel by train. Also beware of spending the night in unverified hostels.

It is easy to bring them from vacation in suitcases if you were near the breeding area of these insects.

Insects can enter the house:

With furniture previously used by someone. Even if it has not been used for a long time, the chances of survival for bedbugs are great - in the absence of a suitable prey, they are able to hibernate for a period of up to 1 year. Sometimes bedbugs are brought in with completely new furniture (it happens that a furniture shop or store is infected with bedbugs).
From neighbors. Moving at a speed of 1 meter per minute, these parasites easily penetrate from apartment to apartment along ventilation ducts, cracks in the walls and floor.
With animals. From poultry houses or buildings in which livestock are kept, on the wool of pets or from the nests of birds that have settled under the roof of the house. Bedbugs drink the blood of not only humans, but also other warm-blooded animals, so they live quite comfortably next to animals or directly in their wool, feathers.
With other people's things, including clothes, soft toys, wood crafts. If a thing has been in an infected room for some time, insects with a high degree of probability could settle in it.
On the clothes of a guest or owner of the house. You can accidentally bring the parasite on yourself by visiting the place where these insects live.

The hygienic condition of the apartment does not affect the appearance of bedbugs - they feel equally well in unsanitary conditions and perfect cleanliness. And getting into an apartment, one female is able to reproduce a whole colony of parasites in a short time - she lays up to 5 eggs a day.

How to identify pests

Bed bugs are very small insects (3 - 8 mm), very flat, dark yellow or brown in color with six legs and a proboscis.

Bed bugs can have different sizes at different stages of development.

These are obligate parasites that certainly live next to a person and feed on his blood. They are known for their secrecy, so people often do not immediately notice that bedbugs are in the house.

Bedbug or not?

Many people have never seen bedbugs in their lives, and therefore may not recognize them, even if they see them with their own eyes.Although, of course, a "personal meeting" with a bug is the first sign of infection at home. These insects are active at night, so it is easier to see them in the dark. And the second, no less important sign of the appearance of parasites is bites. As a rule, they are found in the morning. During the night, the same bug will bite you more than once, and the marks - pink itchy spots - are likely to be located nearby.

It looks like a characteristic "path" of bedbug bites

In addition to the actual marks, sensitive people - especially children - may develop a rash and an allergic reaction. Sometimes a person, tossing and turning in a dream, can crush a bug - then a brown speck will remain on the bed linen. Their regular appearance on your sheets is in itself a reason to think about the presence of bedbugs in the house.

Crushed bedbugs leave such spots on the bed linen.

When there are a lot of bedbugs in an apartment, a characteristic unpleasant smell appears in it, but this already means that the house is thoroughly infected and it will not be easy to cope with parasites. Therefore, at the slightest suspicion - whether it be insects you saw, spots on the bed or bite marks on the skin - you should check if you have nests of bedbugs.

Where the bugs hide

To finally determine whether you have bedbugs or not, or already outline the direction for the first attacks on parasites, you need to find their homes. To do this, you need to know where they live in principle.

Bedbugs can nest anywhere: arrows indicate places that need to be checked first.

Bedbugs prefer warm places and at the same time are hidden from the views of others. First of all, it is worth checking the walls and floors, in the risk zone - the removed wallpaper or the area of wallpaper hidden by the furniture standing next to it, folded floor coverings, carpets, baseboards and the spaces under them.

Bedbugs willingly use your furniture for their own convenience.

Then - the most popular habitat among bedbugs, namely furniture. Parasites can hide in the internal cavities of beds, sofas and armchairs, between pieces of furniture, under the upholstery. In closets, they can take a fancy to the far dark corners and drawers clogged with old things and fabrics. Speaking of fabrics, curtains, drapes and curtains, especially dark and dense ones, can be home to pests, as can mattresses and bedding.

If bugs are not noticed in time, they completely occupy your bed.

The same can be said for clothes that you rarely put on or never take out of your closet. In addition to clothes, books can also be damaged in closets - bugs often hide in their bindings. And with the development of household appliances, parasites have mastered it, because often in such devices as air conditioners, speakers, stereos, system units, there are closed and darkened spaces. They will not ignore antiques as well - paintings, old clocks and statuettes with free cavities are also under threat. In all these places, bugs can hide and arrange a rookery for their eggs and larvae. It is best to look for them during daylight hours. At night they go out in search of food, but during the day they usually sit in shelters - then you will see them with your own eyes.

Video: where to look for bedbugs in the apartment

Power features

When nymphs emerge from the eggs, they go in search of a food source. Like adults, they go out at night, spending daylight hours in a shelter. Having found a person who is in the deep sleep stage, the insects are guided by the pulsation of the blood in order to find the capillaries. During the bite, a dose of anesthetic is injected into the wound and the victim does not wake up.

The parasite bites several times and absorbs an amount of blood that is many times its original weight (the size of the bug's body changes depending on satiety). After that, he hides until he digests food, which takes up to 8 days.

Nymphs behave differently, since they need to receive food every night. They do not yet produce pain relievers, so their frequent bites are very uncomfortable.

To get rid of bed bugs in furniture, you will have to take complex measures!

Remedies

Modern bugs adapt easily to any conditions. It's hard to scare them off with constant lighting or thorough cleaning. They will just move to another place. You need to know how to poison bedbugs in an apartment. First, it is worth knowing that they are afraid of either heat or cold. Alternatively, you can heat the room in which they live to fifty degrees. However, this is not so easy to do.

Some in the winter season open their windows wide and try to freeze the bugs. But even if you leave the room open for several hours, it is fraught with breakdown of the fuel system, and for bedbugs it is a dubious option.

Treatment with chlorine or other toxic substances is unlikely to completely rid you of these insects. But you can get poisoned by toxic fumes. It is necessary to act dramatically.

Alternatively, call a special service. They will process the entire room, which will bring a guaranteed result.

Is it worth talking to them

It is necessary to inform the neighbors about the existing problem. However, if people are from a disadvantaged segment of society, conversations can be meaningless. It must be understood that the treatment of single apartments when populating most of the house with bedbugs is ineffective. At the moment of death or danger, these insects secrete special substances (pheromones), which signal the rest of the parasites to escape. The colony, which moved to another living space, will definitely return in a few months. Therefore, for the high-quality destruction of bedbugs, their persecution throughout the house should occur within 7-10 days. For this, it is advisable to contact specialized organizations that use effective methods and give a guarantee for their work. For example, in the "City Center for Disinfection".

Special drugs

Their non-chemical methods of killing bedbugs are the most effective - freezing and heat exposure. Furniture bugs are able to survive at relatively low temperatures, but the -22 ° C indicator is fatal for them (provided they are in the cold for at least several hours). Therefore, in winter, you can take furniture outside. But if the air is warmer than the required indicator, then the bugs will simply fall into suspended animation and revive again, returning to warmth.

Destruction by high temperatures is achieved in several ways. Fatal for bedbugs is a mark of 50 ° C and above - the parasites die immediately. If the temperature is a couple of degrees below the required one, then the room and things must be subjected to heat treatment for more than 6-8 hours. It is convenient to dry small fabrics, shoes, soft toys and dog bedding on an electric dryer, iron clothes and bed linen with a very hot iron, steam furniture (a steam generator will help), pour boiling water over the skirting boards.

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After killing insects, dead and dying pests, it is best to vacuum clean. Regular vacuuming of the entire apartment as a whole significantly reduces the population of bedbugs and increases the effectiveness of the control measures taken.

In cases with highly contaminated furniture, it is often impossible to remove bedbugs from it by any means. Bedbugs violate the integrity of tissues and wood, making passages inside, in addition, an unpleasant specific smell appears from their secretions, which is almost impossible to get rid of. This furniture must be disposed of.

From folk remedies for scaring off bedbugs, decoctions of tansy and wild rosemary, a bite are often used. Their smells are unpleasant to parasites, therefore, periodically treating the premises with these liquids, you can protect your apartment from the invasion of bedbugs. When an apartment building is infected, it is necessary to poison the parasites at the same time as the neighbors, and for prevention, treat the ventilation holes with insecticides.

Furniture bugs, the destruction of which is not an easy task, are quite tenacious. But you can still try to get rid of them yourself. On store shelves, you can find various variations of special products.

Powder. Substances of this group have been known for a long time, being one of the very first chemicals for bedbugs. Such a powder is popularly called dust. To get rid of annoying insects, you need to scatter it in those places where they most often accumulate.
Spray. Today there are many different aerosols that help to get rid of bedbugs: "Carbozol", "Raptor", "Combat", "Raid from bedbugs", etc. They are the most common means for fighting these insects. However, these funds are very toxic and unsafe for humans. In addition, they have a pungent odor that can be harmful to people with allergies or asthma. The convenience of using the spray can hardly be overestimated: it is enough to spray it on the surface of furniture, near the baseboards, in cabinets. Be aware of the toxicity of such products. Before processing, remove all edibles, as well as children's toys, which can get poisoned.
Special chemical concentrate. It is diluted in water, and then applied to surfaces infected with bedbugs.

It should be remembered that any pest control requires a mandatory re-treatment after a week or two. Adults may die after the first time, but the larvae may survive. In this case, the furniture bugs are activated again.

In 90% of cases, owners use chemical insecticides.

"Executioner" is dissolved in water before use, and it must be applied indoors without drafts (the main component does not withstand exposure to fresh air).
"Mashenka" is produced in the form of a pencil, which is applied to the places where the colonies are supposed to have settled.
"Fufanon" will save you from the problem in a day, but it must be used with caution - the use of a mask and gloves will become an indispensable condition, and people and animals will have to leave the room.
"Karbofos" is even used to eliminate garden pests, but it does not please with environmental friendliness.
"Klopomor" is notable for its efficiency and effectiveness, and 1 bottle of spray is enough even for the treatment of a 3-room apartment.

If the measures did not bring results, it remains to turn to professional exterminators. Let their services cost more, but the problem will be solved!

How to deal with chemistry

To destroy bedbugs yourself at home, chemical and non-chemical methods are used. In the first case, you can use any insecticide marked "from bedbugs", these funds are also often effective against a number of other insect pests, such as fleas. Will fit:

Dichlorvos. Inexpensive, proven remedy for years, effective against all sorts of parasites. Modern dichlorvos do not have a strong unpleasant odor, and they also successfully fight bedbugs.

Karbofos. An inexpensive, effective product with a pungent odor. After the first treatment, a second one is required (after 2-3 days). Minus - insects can soon develop immunity to the active substance.

Tsifox. Will quickly destroy domestic bugs, preventing their reappearance in the house for up to 3 months. An effective drug that is often used by disinfection services.

Tetrix. Highly effective, easy-to-use preparation, is economically consumed. You can remove all insects within 2 days from the moment of treatment, the effect will last up to 2 months.

Fufanon. It will destroy the entire population of bedbugs in 3-4 days, most of the insects will die within an hour after treatment. In composition and action, it is similar to Karbofos, has an average degree of toxicity and a long period of action.

Combat.A low-toxic, odorless drug that not only fights bedbugs, but also disinfects the room, destroying fungi and bacteria. The action begins immediately after spraying, but re-treatment is required after 10-14 days to completely destroy the entire colony of parasites.

Foresight. Suspension that destroys adult insects and larvae, eggs. Acts slowly, but surely. The drug is convenient for use in a residential area due to its low toxicity.

It is convenient to use aerosol insecticides to treat large surfaces of upholstered and cabinet furniture, narrow cracks, spaces behind skirting boards. Liquid concentrates can be applied with a brush, sponge, or sprayed through a spray bottle. To some substances, bugs very quickly develop resistance, so it is useful to alternate drugs to combat them.

Folk ways

To cope with the task, you can use the following methods.

Exposure to cold air is detrimental to insects, but the temperature should be minus 20-22 ° C. However, it will be problematic to bring furniture to the balcony, so the owners open the windows and leave the apartment for several days. The method is effective in case of persistent frost, therefore it is suitable for use in northern regions.
Evaporation is done by treating cracks in the furniture, but the procedure is fraught with difficulties. Watering beds or wardrobes with boiling water is inconvenient, and steam collects on the surface, without reaching the hidden insects, so you can not count on their massive death.

Folk methods will not please with efficiency, but they will be a good auxiliary method in the fight against intruders.