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What Attracts Bed Bugs?

What Attracts Bed Bugs?

What attracts bed bugs?

  1. Warmth 
  2. Carbon dioxide 
  3. Dark-colored sheets 

Bed bugs are small, oval, brownish types of pests that feed on human or animal blood. These pests are not known to spread any life-threatening diseases. But, dealing with a bed bug infestation can be extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable because their presence causes itching and loss of sleep. We all know that pest prevention is better than cure, but then it also begs the question: What attracts bed bugs in the first place? 

The most common kind of bed bug is the Cimex lectularius, which has been around for almost as long as humans have been sleeping on beds. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that they have a preference for all things human-related. 

Before gettings into the facts, let’s bust a common myth. They say that having a dirty room or a dusty bed is directly responsible for having bed bugs. However, this is not the case. 

The common bed bug doesn’t really have any use for dirt or dust since all it feeds on is blood. However, it is equally important to keep your room and bed clean and free from dust in order to prevent nooks and crannies from being the next fortress of a shelter-seeking bed bug. Usually, rooms that are dirty and unkempt have bed bugs because they have more places to hide and all the mess makes them harder to spot. But be aware that even in the cleanest rooms and tidiest beds, there remains a possibility that you could see the naked truth once you flip the mattress.

So what are bed bugs attracted to then? Well, they might not be what you would expect. Read on! 

Warmth

You might be thinking, “Aren’t insects inherently cold-blooded?” Well, to answer that question, yes they are. But the morbidly interesting detail about bed bugs is that they have been alongside humans and other mammals for so long. Because of that, they have become smart enough to know how to figure out the source of their favorite food. Specifically, by detecting body heat. 

One of the most difficult things about bed bugs is that you don’t immediately see them, especially during the daytime when you’re not lying down on the bed yet. But as soon as you lay down on the bed and begin warming up the bed, it’s like the dinner bell ringing loudly and clearly announcing yet again the beginning of a feast for the bed bugs.

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide

There are two major things that you do when you sleep — dream and breathe. Unfortunately, bed bugs find your exhalation attractive. 

For bed bugs, carbon dioxide in the air is a good indicator that there’s a larger creature present in the area that is most likely filled with blood. Conveniently for the bed bugs, you’re a perfect target. So once you start sleeping and the carbon dioxide that you exhale goes around you, the bed bugs are attracted. 

Dark-Colored Sheets

Dark-Colored Sheets

In a 2016 study from the Journal of Medical Entomology, they discovered a correlation between bed bugs and the color of mattresses. They found that 23 percent of female bed bugs preferred to lay their eggs on red sheets, while 29 percent chose to make their nest on black sheets. Surprisingly, when it came to other colors, they found out that only 3 percent chose to nest on green-colored sheets, and 7 percent chose purple-colored sheets. 

So whether it’s a correlation or causation, it’s worth changing your sheet colors to prevent it from attracting bed bugs. But you have to keep in mind that this will not eliminate an existing bed bug infestation. This is only to deter them.

Key Takeaway

So what now? You might think that it seems impossible to purely avoid bed bugs even by just reading the first two points. After all, it’s impossible to be cold-blooded and stop exhaling, right? The main takeaway is that now, you know what attracts bed bugs. 

With this knowledge, you can also get one-up getting rid of bed bugs. If prevention fails, you can trust Topbest Pest Control Services to not only get rid of your existing bed bug infestation, but also to make sure that they will never rob a minute of comfortable sleep from your eyes ever again. Click here to contact Topbest today! We offer FREE pest control infestation. 

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How to Inspect Used Furniture for Bed Bugs

How to inspect used furniture for Bed Bugs

How do you inspect used furniture for bed bugs?

  1. Have the necessary tools
  2. Use a white sheet
  3. Use a credit card
  4. Disassemble the furniture
  5. Ask the previous owners

 

Buying used furniture is a great way to obtain valuable pieces to add to your own home. But just because something looks nice on the outside doesn’t mean the inside is all the nicer, and most of the time it’s what’s on the inside is what matters. This is especially true for used furniture because if they are not well-maintained, then bed bugs can be present in and around them all the time.

Don’t undermine bed bugs just because they haven’t been observed to carry human pathogens. They are still troublesome for your skin and should be avoided at all costs. However, that doesn’t mean you have to stop buying used furniture altogether. You simply have to inspect them and eventually rid them of bed bugs if they appear to be infested. That might be hard to do at first, so to help you out, here’s how are some tips and procedures on how you can inspect used furniture.

 

Have the Necessary Tools

Have the Necessary Tools

The first crucial thing you need to remember when inspecting used furniture for bed bugs is to have the necessary tools. Things you will need include a torch or flashlight, a magnifying glass, and some white latex gloves. The flashlight is for getting the proper illumination to see the tiny pests. Given that they’re tiny (and we mean tiny, about 5 millimeters to a centimeter max), a magnifying glass is also crucial.

Meanwhile, the pair of white gloves serve two purposes. The first is for your protection because bed bugs can bite, and it might feel a bit loathsome to feel them crawling on your skin. The second reason is, again, for increased visibility. White contrasts pretty well with bed bugs that have a dark red, almost black, color. Sometimes they also appear to have an amber-like yellow tinge. It all depends on the species of bug you’re dealing with.

 

Use a White Sheet

Use a White Sheet

Now that you have the necessary tools, the next thing you need is a white sheet. This can be made out of paper, fabric or anything white that can be spread over the area underneath the furniture you are inspecting. Just like with the white latex gloves, the white sheet is there so that you don’t have a hard time visually inspecting the furniture. Just place it on top of the white sheet and conduct your investigation then.

One way of examining is by using your flashlight along with your magnifying glass to give the fabric or material of your furniture a close inspection. Bed bugs are known to live and hide in the nooks and crannies of your bed or chair, so if you’re having a hard time seeing them, try giving it a nice shake to see if some bugs fall out. They should then be almost impossible to see thanks to the white sheet.

 

Use a Credit Card

Don’t be too alarmed by this tip because you won’t be using your credit card for anything financial. The reason why you need a credit card is that you need to run it through the surface of the furniture you are inspecting. Cracks, grooves, small holes, and other tiny crevices have been known to be prime bed bug hiding spots. Using your hands for inspection might not be effective, and the good old’ shake method can be misleading because the bed bugs won’t fall out if they are inside these small spaces.

Run the credit card, or any type of card for this matter as long as it’s stiff, through the surface once or twice and then check the white sheet underneath if any have fallen. You should also be on the lookout for bed bug feces, which looks like very tiny black pellets. You can also find shed exoskeletons.

 

Disassemble the Furniture

Disassemble the Furniture

If the previously mentioned methods fail to yield anything substantial, then that could only mean two things. It’s either the furniture in question is clean (which is great news for you) or the bed bugs are proving to be difficult and are hiding in the deepest parts of the furniture (which is the worst-case scenario). Either way, it would be beneficial for you to be thorough, so the next best thing to do is to disassemble the furniture down to its basic parts, if possible.

After disassembly, apply the white sheet and credit card methods to each part to inspect it properly. The great thing about this is that you can also check the furniture’s actual physical integrity. Maybe one of the legs is damaged, or maybe there are signs of termite infestation too. All these things can potentially affect the quality of your life, so practice due diligence and be thorough.

 

Ask the Previous Owners

If you are not that motivated to do the physical labor required to inspect on your own or don’t have the time due to work or school, then a simple way to know if there are bed bugs in the furniture you bought is to ask the previous owners. Most people who sell furniture have no motivation to lie about something like that. In any case, if they do say that they noticed bed bugs, then you can go straight into applying pest control techniques.

 

Key Takeaway

Bed bugs can prove to be a nuisance to you, especially because they are most active at night. Most people get bitten while sleeping, so apart from physically inspecting used furniture you’ve bought, it might be too late when you start realizing that there are bed bugs present in your home. Always inspect used furniture, so that you’ll have a good night’s sleep all night, every night.