Some phrases cause us to smile. You can't help but grin when a photographer asks you to "say cheese" or "fuzzy pickles." Other words and phrases like "refund," "you've won," or "good job" can brighten your day. Conversely, we don't want to hear some words and phrases, and one of those two-word combinations is "bed bugs."
The thought of bed bugs living in your Plymouth home can quickly ruin your day. No one relishes the idea of tiny insects feeding on them while they sleep! Although bed bugs are not the result of failing to keep a clean house, there is a stigma that one feels when they invade your home.
If you suspect bed bugs are living in your house, you need pest control in Plymouth from Combat Pest Control. With over a quarter century of pest control experience, our locally owned and operated company has removed bed bugs from homes providing peace of mind to our community. Our priority is to provide our area with local, fast, and effective pest control services. We have had many questions asked over the years about bed bugs, so in this article, we provide answers to help you win against bed bugs in your home.
How To Tell If It's Bed Bugs Infesting Your Home
Bed bugs are elusive creatures that hide in cracks and crevices in mattress seams, behind headboards and picture frames, inside electrical outlets, and between walls and baseboards during the day. Although bites on your body are a possible indication that bed bugs are in your house, they could be wounds from mosquitoes, spiders, fleas, chiggers, and other biting insects. Is it possible to know if bed bugs are the source of the bites? Yes!
Investigate your Plymouth house for the following signs to determine if you need bed bug control:
- Reddish-brown stains
- Eggs
- Eggshells
- Discarded exoskeletons
- Bites
- Live or dead bed bugs
- Odor
Let's unpack this list by discussing what you can see without a magnifying glass as you investigate the area to confirm whether or not bed bugs are the culprit. One of the indicators of bed bugs is reddish-brown stains in mattress seams, box springs, bed linens, upholstery, and walls from bed bug feces.
Although bed bugs are tiny insects, adult bed bugs are visible without additional magnification. Search the potential infestation area for 1/4-inch-long, six-legged insects. Unfed bed bugs are mahogany, flat, and broadly oval, while bed bugs who recently enjoyed a blood meal have a reddish brown and elongated body.
Another visible sign of bed bugs is small, red, swollen bites on your arms and legs. Although bites may appear in other locations, these are the primary targets because they are often exposed and uncovered by clothing. You may notice the other indications before detecting bites on your body because when bed bugs pierce your skin to draw blood, their saliva numbs the feeding area. As a result, it may be days before you begin itching from the bites, thereby noticing them on your body.
Bed bugs emit an oily liquid producing a smelly, musty odor. You may not notice the foul-smelling aroma in the early stages of an infestation, but if the population of bed bugs continues unabated, the smell may become noticeable.
The other indications that you need bed bug pest control near you from Combat Pest Control require a magnifying glass. Look for cream-colored eggs and discarded eggshells in cracks between the baseboards and walls, upholstery, and mattress seams. Bed bugs are insects, and one characteristic of insects is that their skeleton is on the outside of their body (exoskeleton). For a bed bug to progress through the five growth stages, called instars, it must shed its outer shell each time. As the bed bug progresses, the discarded shells increase in size. Look for the remains in the areas mentioned above using a magnifying glass.
Bed Bug Infestations Only Get Worse With Time
You will quickly change your mind if you think pest control to kill bed bugs is unnecessary when you see signs of bed bugs in your Plymouth house! A bed bug infestation can happen to anyone. Bed bugs ride into Plymouth homes on clothing, luggage, used furniture, appliances, electronic equipment, shopping bags, shoes, etc. Bed bugs find potential hosts in public areas like hotels, motels, theaters, and restaurants. They also use public buses, cabs, and subways as other transportation hubs. If you have never encountered bed bugs, the temptation is to believe you can stop the infestation without help, but you can't.
Once the tiny mahogany insects enter a Plymouth house, they move from the potential host and locate a nearby crack or crevice where they remain until nightfall. During the night, usually between 2 am and 5 am, they emerge from hiding, climb onto the sleeping host, and feed for three to five minutes. After bed bugs finish eating their blood meal, they detach from the host and return to their hiding location, where they begin mating.
For the next ten days after a meal, fertilized females will produce up to seven eggs daily and about 20 eggs after their blood meal. The cycle repeats each time she feeds. After only six days, the eggs will hatch, and immature, nearly colorless bed bugs (nymphs) emerge to start feeding on the host. So, now you are a host for adult bed bugs and the ever-growing offspring population!
A single female bed bug produces over 100 eggs in its lifetime, which ranges from three months to almost a year. Approximately 97% of the eggs produced will hatch, and about 80% of the nymphs will survive to become adult bed bugs in Plymouth homes. Under ideal conditions, a bed bug can progress from egg to reproducing adult in only 37 days! Multiply the output of one female bed bug by ten, twenty, or fifty, and you can see why the bed bug pest control services for your home from Combat Pest Control are necessary.
If you contact us when you see early signs of bed bugs in your Plymouth home, we can stop the bed bugs before they spread throughout your house and cause problems for additional household members.
Why Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Control Methods Usually Fail
We all like to be self-sufficient and fix problems when they arise, and stopping bed bugs is no exception. However, bed bug extermination is not an easy task for the following reasons:
- Bed bugs are resistant to many treatments.
- Bed bugs can sometimes detect treated areas.
- Bed bugs reproduce quickly.
By the mid-twentieth century, bed bugs were no longer a concern in western countries due to the use of DDT. Since then, scientists learned that DDT is dangerous, and its use was discontinued, paving the way for the return of bed bugs. Soon other treatments developed, but surprisingly they stopped working because the bed bugs had evolved resistance to them! Do-it-yourself products that may have worked in the past are often no longer effective against bed bugs. Furthermore, these products can be dangerous to family members and pets when incorrectly applied.
A few years ago, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) surveyed its members to determine the most difficult pests to remove from homes and businesses. Ninety-seven percent of pest control experts said bed bugs were the most difficult pest to remove from residences. Of course, they are problematic even for professionals because of their quick reproduction rate, resistance to some treatments, and ability to detect some treatment applications. If pest control professionals rank bed bugs as difficult pests to eliminate, then you can see why they are almost impossible to remove by homeowners!
Our Combat Pest Control technicians use safe and effective bed bug control techniques for your home. Because bed bug removal is our area of expertise, we know what treatments eliminate bed bugs because they have not developed a resistance to them, nor can they detect their presence. Our highly trained pest control technicians have the experience to know where to apply the products to achieve effective results.
The Most Effective Way To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In Your House
Bed bugs are hitchhikers that spread throughout a home to other human hosts. When you move from one room to another, bed bugs may travel with you on your shoes, pantleg cuffs, and inside bags. So, what may begin with a small infestation can quickly extend throughout your Plymouth home.
When you use local pest control for bed bugs from Combat Pest Control, our pest control technicians will investigate your house for evidence of bed bugs. If our trained technicians see signs of bed bugs, they will create a strategic plan to remove the pests as quickly as possible. Our pest control technician will work with you to prepare the house for treatment. We apply our environmentally friendly products using decades of proven methods to produce effective results. We believe in our time-tested process so much that it comes with a six-month no-nonsense warranty.
Call us today for a phone consultation and get a free estimate to remove bed bugs from your Plymouth home.
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