In the war against bed bugs, identifying signs of infestations is crucial in minimizing or eliminating the spread of these insects. Bed bugs are journeying critters and love to hitchhike. The more difficult people make it for this insect to hitchhike in their belongings or clothing, the greater the chance of not bringing these insects home. Listed below are some signs that these insects have infested.
Live bugs are crawling around the property
If these bed bugs are crawling around, it is a sign that there’s an infestation, especially if property owners see more than one. But homeowners need to be aware that a single bug may have crawled off individuals who came before them, and there may not be an infestation. Regardless of these instances, people should always stay on the side of caution when dealing with these critters. That one insect may be the only sign homeowners are going to get.
Bug feces
These insects leave their black feces everywhere – in large quantities considering their small size. When these critters are infesting mattresses, black patches of the droppings can be found on the corners or along seams. The black residue is usually found in the folds, creases, or stitching if they have infested furniture.
These droppings are sticky. Because of this, they can usually be seen as small specks stuck to walls, carpeting, cloth, or wood. On paints, staining is found around the feces and trails running down the walls. When these critters are infesting wall outlets, people may see streaks on outlet covers or streaks on the property’s baseboards. These streaks are quite noticeable on pillowcases and sheets if insects are coming out to feed at night.
Click https://www.healthline.com/health/bed-bug-bites to know more about bed bug bites and treatments.
Bloodstains
When these critters infest, often, there will be bloodstains on pillowcases, sheets, or other areas of infestations. The insect’s feces have blood in them. The blood spots that are made by droppings can have a red or dark brown discoloration around them.
Puncture marks may also cause stains on sheets from these insects that have been scratched. It is a sure sign to go by since stains like this could be made by a bug bite that has been scratched, or other types of wounds on people’s skin, but when black droppings accompany these stains, it is no longer a secret what made these bloodstains.
Insect parts
These creepy crawlers go through five stages of development before they reach adulthood. As they pass from one state to another, they shed cuticles. These cuticles, also known as casings, can be found on the floor, stuck to their droppings, or lying on bedsheets.
Scent
These critters release pheromone scents that some describe as a wet and dirty towel or locker room smell. This scent will be more pungent as more critters infest.
Bites
Identifying bites may save people from bringing these creepy crawlers home if they happen to notice them on someone or something where they are staying. We hope individuals do not get them by themselves or see these annoying marks on their family members, but if they do, these things are sure signs that this critter is infesting.
They have three features that help make them pretty easy to identify:
Their bites appear in clusters or rows
They feed multiple times per night. That is why instead of having several single bed bud bites appearing on the skin on a random pattern, marks will be grouped together. Know more here.
Rashes are often found around bite marks
Rashes may even make clusters of marks look like hives instead of bites from insects like mosquitos or spiders. But not everyone has immediate rashes from these critters. For some people, it may take a couple of marks before they start to have allergic reactions.
Their bites make the skin rise into bumps
Just like mosquito bites, these bumps are far worse for some individuals; slightly worse for others. Their bits are usually characterized by light to bright red coloring, but it’s not always the case. Recognizing the signs of a bed bug infestation could save individuals from traumatic experiences that are to become too common in the country. When you are out on vacation, always remember to be safe and be aware of sure signs of these creepy crawlers. Life is far better without these critters.
