When you were a kid your parent might have told you not to let the bedbug bite you and for a long time there a lot that been heard of about this unique creature. Bedbugs are the fastest growing pests control emergency in the developed world. One in five Americans either has had bedbug or knows someone who has, and the problem is not going away. It’s actually getting a lot worse.
Its scientific name is Cimexlectularius. Bedbugs are blood-feeding insects that are about the size of an apple seed once they are fully grown. Bedbugs mostly survive on the blood of mammals and insects, but they prefer human blood. The colony of bed bugs can have thousands of individual and you can have them without even knowing it. Bedbugs do not only live in bed. Bedbugs can probably live in anywhere they can hide.
Bedbugs are 5mm long and are flat as a piece of paper. They can crawl up to 30meters (100feet) in a night to find a meal. That means bedbugs can hide under light switches, walls, underneath paintings.
The bedbug has preyed on humans for some many years, say 3500years. From archeological evidence tells us that Bedbugs have fed on humans for at least 3500 years, because fossilized bed bugs have been found at dig sites but bedbugs might have even plagued us much longer than that based on what is their mitochondrial DNA, that is the DNA inside the powerhouse of the cell.
By comparing the mitochondrial markers in Bedbug populations around the world, we have learned that they originated in caves in the Middle East, where they would have on bats. Know that Bedbugs cannot fly and they cannot jump, they cannot crawl very far either. The first humans, bedbugs chewed on were probably cave dwellers. So we had them for a long time, and they can hide anywhere.
Furthermore, the simplest way to get rid of Bedbugs infestation is heat. Bedbugs hate heat. Both eggs and adults will die in under ten minutes if exposed to a temperature above 460C (1150F). This will take of bed bugs living inside any material. Gunpowder is also handy tools in treating bed bugs infestation by exploding them. Please do not try this one. Even if they hate heat, you cannot wait for them to die on a hot summer day for a couple of reasons.
Bed bugs are capable of what is called diapauses, which means they can hibernate as it is seen in birds. Diapause is a deep sleep, where the Bed bugs shut off most of its metabolic process and survive on its energy stores until it either runs out of energy or wakes up.
Bedbugs diapause when it is getting too hot or the temperature drops below freezing or if they cannot find food. That is why putting your bedding in trash bags to try to starve the bed bugs out does not work.
In the 1950s Bed bugs were almost wipe out all because of the super incredible of the toxic chemical called DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloro-Ethane. This was the first chemical pesticide to be put to widespread use. It was ruled out after world war-2. DDT is from a family of pesticides called Pyrethroids. The best solution is to call a professional bedbug exterminator to properly get rid of these bloodsucking pests from your home. Any wrong move can spread the bugs to other parts of the house.
