Signs & Treatment For Bedbug Infestation
March 20th, 2016
The good news is bedbugs have not been shown to transmit disease. The bad news, however, is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers them a public health pest. The parasitic insects can do mental, physical, and economic damage, and then there’s the ick factor.
Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of other animals. These tiny oval bugs are about the size of an apple seed with long, brown, flat oval-shaped bodies that balloon after a feeding. They have wings but do not fly. Though tiny, their glands excrete a musty sweet odor.
Bedbugs can live anywhere in a Palatka home but are most commonly found in bedding, including mattresses, box springs, and bed frames. There, the parasites lay in wait for night fall, when they feed. They can make a meal from any exposed areas of skin, but bedbug bites are most commonly found on the neck, hands, face, and arms. Most people report that the bites are painless at first, before becoming small, itchy red bumps that may be mistaken for a rash.
Bedbugs enter the home through luggage, clothing or used beds and other furniture. It’s critical to note that a bedbug infestation doesn’t mean your home is dirty or unclean. These pests feed on blood, not dirt or grime, and can be found in sparkling clean homes and hotel rooms.
Their tiny bodies, microscopic eggs, and painless bites can make identifying a bedbug infestation a challenge. We here at Champion Termite & Pest Control in Palatka, FL want to show you how to tell if you have an infestation, and what you can do about it through heat remediation treatments
Things to Look For
- Raised, itchy bumps on the skin are generally the first sign of bed bugs
- Blood stains on sheets or pillows
- Rusty-colored spots on bedclothes, mattresses, or walls. These are signs of bedbug excrement.
- They live in groups in hiding places, so you may find eggshells or shed skins.
- A slightly musty, sweet odor from the bedbug’s scent glands
These signs alone do not confirm the presence of bedbugs. Observing the bugs themselves is the only way to definitively confirm an infestation. If you suspect you have bedbugs, a pest control company can confirm their presence and treat your home.
Heat Remediation Treatment
Getting rid of bedbugs is no easy task. Most cases will require the assistance of a pest control expert, though there are a variety of sprays, dusts, and aerosols that can be purchased to assist homeowners in eradicating them. However, pesticides are losing some of their effectiveness in treating bedbugs, and this solution typically requires replacing bedding, mattresses, and even other pieces of furniture.
One new method of treating these pests is thermal or heat remediation treatments. This method of fighting infestations uses intense heat to eliminate all developmental stages of bedbugs. Often heat remediation can eliminate bedbugs in one treatment. The process forces intense heat – up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit – into all cracks, wall cavities, bedding, furniture, and mattresses, leaving no place for bedbugs to hide.
The benefit of heat remediation service is several-fold. For the eco-friendly folks, it’s chemical free, which means no worries about extra pollutants entering the atmosphere. It also means that a homeowner won’t have to throw out all of their belongings in an effort to rid the home of the infestation. Since the intense heat kills all developmental stages including adult bugs, eggs, and nymphs, there’s little chance that they’ll return or leave and spawn a new colony that may infest the home again.
