Are These Bed Bugs In My Bradenton Home?
It can be difficult to identify bed bugs or determine that your home is infested with bed bugs if you don't know a lot about them. Today, we're going to give you what you need to solve the mystery and get the help required to quickly address bed bugs when they find their way into your Bradenton home.
When You Don't See Them
The first warning sign you're likely to get is the appearance of bites on your skin. Bed bugs are tiny insects that avoid the light and hide in tight spaces or dark voids. But finding bug bites on your skin, even when you first wake up in the morning, doesn't necessarily mean you have a bed bug infestation. It can take hours, or even days, for a bug bite to start looking like a bug bite. The reason your skin swells at the site of the wound and becomes rashy and itchy is due to an allergic reaction. You can wake up with itchy wounds that you acquired from an outdoor pest. There are many outdoor insects that bite Bradenton residents. It can be tricky to figure out what's biting you. Here are a few tips for identifying bed bug bites:
- One bed bug is likely to bite you three times. The bites will appear in a short line or zig-zag pattern on your skin.
- If more than one bed bug bites you, you'll see lots of bites. Three bed bugs are likely to produce nine bites. Bed bugs feed in the same area together so the bites should look like a path across your skin.
- If bed bug nymphs bite you, you may think that you're having a reaction to food, clothing, or something else. You might not think they're actually bug bites.
- Bed bug bites don't have an ulcer or pustule in the center.
- Bed bug bites are typically found on areas of the skin that are exposed during the night, though not always.
- Bed bug bites tend to be near the head because bed bugs are attracted to carbon dioxide emissions.
When You Find Bed Bugs
If you move some covers or lift your mattress and find bugs, they could be bed bugs. But bed bugs don't always look like bed bugs, and this could throw you off. What do we mean? You probably know bed bugs as rust colored insects, but bed bug nymphs aren't rust-colored. They range in color from pale to tan. If you find a tiny 1 mm, pale-colored insect in your bed, it is probably a bed bug. As that tiny pale-colored insect grows, it will turn tan and eventually the rusty brown color you probably expect. Here are a few more facts to help you with your identification of bed bugs:
- Adult bed bugs can look black instead of a rusty red color. This is because the skin of a bed bug is somewhat transparent. While adult bed bugs aren't as transparent as newly hatched nymphs, you will still be able to see coloration on the inside of the adults. If a bed bug has recently fed, it will appear more red. If it has not recently fed, it could appear black. The black coloration is from the black feces created by the digestion of the blood.
- A bed bug nymph can look multi-colored. It could have a pale head and black body, or a pale head and red body. It will be red if it has recently fed and black if it has not.
- As nymphs grow and become tan, they may have black or red mixed in with their coloration. Keep this in mind.
Where To Look For Bed Bugs
If you're getting bites and you can't find bed bugs in your home, we have a few tips to help you with your search.
- Use a debit card to swipe across seams in your mattress or box spring. This can dislodge evidence of bed bugs such as shed skins, white eggs, or the bed bugs themselves.
- Use a flashlight to look into gaps, cracks, and recesses in your bed frame. If you see something moving around in there, you've probably found bed bugs.
- Examine furniture, electronics, baseboards, carpet edges, crown molding, and outlet covers. Black streaks or black stains, brown stains, and shed skins can provide a warning sign. You may also smell the unpleasant aroma of bed bug pheromones if these insects are hiding in an object near your bed.
When You Find Bed Bugs In Bradenton
These insects are known for eluding DIY bed bug treatments. If you have an infestation, contact Keller's Pest Control for service. Our technicians have a lot of experience with controlling bed bugs and we use industry-leading control strategies. You don't have to live with these irritating pests in your Bradenton home. Get relief today.