What attracts bed bugs?
- Warmth
- Carbon dioxide
- 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
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
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.
