How to Find Bed Bugs During the Day
The last thing you ever think about as a homeowner is defending yourself vs bed bugs. Unfortunately, if you incorrectly identify a bed bug infestation, you could possibly allow the bed bugs to catch a ride on a visitors clothing or bags and travel to another home. The longer it takes to eradicate the bed bugs only allows the bugs to continue to multiply. How to find bed bugs during the day? Ample light from the sun, flashlights, and a magnifying glass are your best bets.
Let's take a look below at where bed bugs might reside in your home and what they like to eat.
Where Are They
Believe it or not, bed bugs aren't just capable of hiding in your bed. They are able to travel around your home and find some easy hiding places. The most common hiding places for bed bugs during the day are as follows:
- Any upholstered furniture
- Sofa or couches
- Furniture with crevices like dressers and nightstands
- Items that provide hiding, like paintings and picture frames
- Electrical outlet covers
How Do I Find Them
Like with anything else related to pest control, you must first find the bed bugs before creating a plan of action. Knowing if they are alive or have laid many eggs in and around your furniture is key. Take these steps to find bed bugs during the day.
- Get your equipment together - A magnifying glass, flashlight, and open window drapes are the best approach to identifying bed bugs. The more light that you can use the easier it is to find the bugs.
- Check for obvious signs - some obvious signs are your skin blotches or rash like spotting. Bed bugs have started eating off your skin while you are sleeping. Check the mattress and the crevices of the box spring and other furniture to determine if the population has spread.
- Identify eggs or nymphs - nymphs are transparent, however, if you find them with brown in the middle of their bodies, that means they have started eating. Eggs are often found in crevices that are not usually disturbed by sleeping or sitting. You might also see some blood spots or exoskeletons as the bugs are shedding and growing or have been crushed.
- Check for bites - blotching or rash like spots on your skin are clear indicators that you have bed bugs in your bed or other furniture pieces. Following the steps above can further confirm that your rash like spots are not from an allergic reaction to laundry detergent.
- Call your local pest control and home inspection team.
How Do They Survive
Just like how any other live organism lives, food and climate are key components. Let's take a look below at the bed bugs need for food and climate.
Food:
- Bed bugs prefer human blood to feed, but they will also attack other mammals and even birds.
- Have no problem traveling anywhere between 5-20 feet from their hiding place to feed on a host.
- Can feed up to 3-12 minutes
- Rusty or brownish spots found on your bed sheets are due to the adult or larger nymphs of bugs excrete earlier blood meals as they eat some more.
- Bed bugs will eat at anytime of the day. If they are hungry, then they will seek food.
Living Conditions:
- Varied types of bed bugs such as the tropical bed bugs required higher average temps.
- Common bed begs live anywhere a host can live.
- The typical range of temperatures for bed bugs to survive is 46 degrees F to 113 degrees F. If your goal is to kill bed bugs with heat, you would need to increase room temperatures well above 113 degrees F.
How Much Does It Cost
A bed bug infestation can be rather frustrating to deal with. Unfortunately, they can also be expensive as it takes longer to get rid of bed bugs. Bed bugs can wait a long time to eat, so eradicating them is time-consuming. The national average for getting rid of a bed bug infestation ranges from $300 to $5,000. On average, you can expect to pay $1,000 to $2,500.
Other Recommended Maintenance
One area to think about is pest control. It is important to have a pest control service so they can keep the pests at bay. Having pest control service bi-monthly or monthly is a good idea. Hiring a professional company to take care of this for you is essential.
While you are keeping an eye out for bed bugs, you might notice millipedes. While these worm-like creatures have a million legs, fortunately, they are not dangerous. However, you want to be careful if you pick one up as it has hydrochloric acid that comes out and you can get it into your eyes.
Lastly, you want to make sure that if you are buying a home in Florida, you have a WDO inspection. This is a wood-destroying organism inspection and will allow you to find out if the home has termites. Hiring a professional company to do this is important.
When Do I Call A Professional
The moment that you recognize that you have been bitten while sleeping or sitting on your furniture, you should call your local pest control company. This could be a big deal and project undertaking. Although you can take on the task of searching for bed bug confirmation, you likely won't have the equipment or items necessary to get rid of them.
This is the time you will reach out to your local home inspection team as they can search your home for insects and pests as they conduct a full home inspection. They can then refer you to a reputable pest control company to assist with eradicating the problem. This can save you time and money, as you might have other insect infestations to get rid of at the same time.
Conclusion
Dealing with a bed bug infestation is most likely not the most ideal situation for a homeowner. Not only are you living with a nuisance insect that feeds on your skin and blood, but waiting for your local pest control company to eradicate these pests could be costly.
It's a great idea to call on your local home inspection team in order to get the most reputable referral to a pest control company that is capable of eradicating your bed bug issue. Call on Gray Pest Control for all your pest control needs in Jacksonville, FL, and surrounding areas.