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Bed Bug Infestation!
- How to indentify and treat an outbreak -
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Summary: Bed bugs (commonly spelled bedbugs without the space) are, unfortunately, coming back as important pests in motels, hotels and other high traffic places. Learn how to identify bed bugs and prevent bites from these critters.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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 Bed bugs are flattened (when unfed), broadly oval insects about 1/4" long (right). These true bugs (Hemiptera) are reddish brown in color and lack functioning wings. Bed bug nymphs look like small adults and there is no pupal stage between nymphs and adults. All stages bite to obtain blood.
Bed bugs readily move between their human host and the surroundings where they hide during the day. They can survive long periods off the host without feeding, or they may feed on an alternate warm-blooded host animal.
A number of true bugs feed on mammalian blood but humans are the preferred host of bed bugs. Unlike some other blood-feeding insects bed bugs probably are not important carriers of human disease.
common spelling: bedbug
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Bed bug (4th instar larva, unfed) - about 1/5". After feeding bed bugs become less flattened, more rounded. Adjust your monitor
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How does a room become infested?
Since bed bugs don't fly, and not able to walk very far, these bugs rely on us to move them from one place to another. Rooms generally become infested because bed bugs are carried into the room on our belongings. The bugs can hide themselves in pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, backpacks, towels, clothing, and so forth, from an infested to an uninfested room.
Bed bug bites
Bed bugs bite at night and hide during the day. Because of this behavior they tend to hide in, and around, bedding. Since adult bed bugs can live 6-12 months infestations build slowly and last a long time if not treated. Heavily infested rooms often have a distinctive "sickly sweet" odor which is produced by scent glands on the insects.
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Bed bugs bite with piercing and sucking mouthparts, similar to mosquitoes. Bites result in local swelling and irritation like a bad mosquito bite. While digesting a blood meal bed bugs excrete black fecal material that accumulates where they hide and is characteristic of an infestation [see this drawing of bed bug bites and hiding places].
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Our recent history with bed bugs
Bed bugs have been associated with humans since our earliest history. Bed bugs bite while we sleep and probably started by pestering our earliest cave-dwelling ancestors. A closely related species, the bat bug, feeds on bats that roost in caves. Since World War II, and until very recently, bed bugs were kept largely in check with regular indoor applications of insecticides like DDT and chlorpyrifos (trade name = Dursban).
We now realize that using hazardous insecticides indoors is not a good idea and many of them have been banned for this use. The practice of routinely applying broad spectrum insecticides indoors to control pests like bed bugs has largely stopped because of the concerns over toxicity. If insecticides are used indoors at all they are now low toxicity materials like inert dusts or botanical insecticides. So, while our indoor environment is safer it has given our old friend, the bed bug, a new foothold.
Hotels, motels and inns have been the first to experience this new bed bug invasion because of reduced insecticide use. Infestations are usually confined to one or a few rooms and if handled promptly rooms can be effectively cleaned and the infestation eliminated. As you might guess, however, establishments are often reluctant to admit that a bed bug outbreak is underway so sometimes the infestation grows and spreads to other rooms. You should always report bed bug bites to the management because this may be the only way they can detect a problem early.
Finding and treating bed bugs
Regular cleaning and inspection of hiding places is the best control strategy for bed bugs. Insecticidal treatment of bedding and furniture may be necessary but be very cautious when using insecticides on bedding because of the potential for prolonged exposure to toxic materials while sleeping. Next: Eliminating Bed Bug Infestations and Preventing Bed Bug Bites
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Questions?
If you still have questions about bedbugs here's a free option if you have a fairly simple question and don't need specific follow up advice. I am now a volunteer at AllExperts.com in the "Entomology (Study of Bugs)" section. AllExperts is a site where you can ask questions, in a variety of topics, of volunteer "experts". There's no charge for the service. You can submit your question through AllExperts to me (Jack DeAngelis), or one of the other volunteers, and get an answer for free. You can even post a picture of your bug if you like.
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