Just the thought of even one little bed bug in your home is alarming, but hundreds with you in your bed… well that’s almost crippling. How could you get bed bugs in your Los Angeles home? HomeShield Pest Control is here to help you separate fact from fiction.
Common Misconceptions About Bed Bugs
Myth
Bed bugs only live in and around beds, usually only in dirty homes.
Truth
Bed bug infestations can happen to anyone, anywhere. Sleeping areas give easy access to easy meals and are a favorite spot but they certainly aren't the only one.
Once people become aware of a bed bug infestation they tend to try to search them out. But bed bugs are notoriously hard to find and will hide in a variety of places including:
The seams of the mattress and between the mattress and box spring
In bed frame or headboard joints
Behind baseboards and in seams between baseboards and carpeting
Behind lifted edges of wallpaper
In your dresser drawers or your linen closets
In your wall outlets
Inside small appliances
Bed bugs are hitchhikers, which is why you seem to spontaneously have an infestation. They are easily picked up in hotels, dorm rooms, public transportation, while visiting a friend or riding in their car. You really can be exposed almost anywhere there are people.
Myth
Bed bugs spread disease.
Truth
There is no concrete evidence that bed bugs spread disease, but bed bug infestations can lead to other health issues such as insomnia, secondary infections from scratching, and in severe cases, anemia.
Unlike cockroaches or Pharaoh ants, bed bugs are not known to carry or transmit diseases. Similar to mosquitoes, bed bugs will inject you with their saliva, which acts as a numbing agent. If you react to the bite, it is actually an allergic reaction to the salvia. Most people have little to no reaction, which means you can have bed bugs and not know it.
Myth
Bed bugs are too small to see.
Truth
Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed.
Obviously, you need to be able to tell the difference between a bed bug and any other bug before you start any treatment. For example, carpet beetles are often misidentified as bed bugs. This can be a costly and time-consuming mistake. The longer it takes to make the correct identification, the more time bed bugs have to multiply and spread.
In general bed bugs can be identified with the following characteristics:
When not fed recently, they are long and brown, with a flat, oval-shaped body.
When fed they are balloon-like, reddish-brown, and more elongated.
The bed bugs in California are normally brownish-red and become darker after they have fed.
Bed bugs are smelly, with a musty odor produced through glands on the lower side of the body.
Young bed bugs (also called nymphs), are smaller, translucent, or whitish-yellow. When not recently fed, they can be nearly invisible to the naked eye because of coloring and size.
If you suspect that your home is infested with bed bugs, call HomeShield Pest Control to get started with our bed bug control treatments in Los Angeles County right away.
Myth
You can get rid of bed bugs on your own.
Truth
It is extremely difficult to get every egg, nymph, and adult without professional assistance.
Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to get rid of for many reasons, but mostly because these bugs hide out in your bed or favorite cozy sofa. At every stage of development, they are resilient to conventional treatments and no Los Angeles wants to go to the point of saturating their mattress or cozy sofa with chemicals to get needed results. So what do you do? How do you make them all disappear? HomeShield Pest Control can shed some light on this for you.
When it comes to dealing with bed bugs, partnering with an expert for professional bed bug control services is the simplest and easiest solution. Call HomeShield Pest Control today to get a free estimate on a bed bug control plan for your home. We also provide commercial pest control solutions for businesses who are dealing with, or looking to prevent, bed bugs.