Bed bugs are constant companions of humans. Only in the last century, after the invention of powerful insecticides and the introduction of modern building materials, people learned to massively destroy household insects, and bloodsuckers became a relative rarity in developed countries.
It only took a few decades for insects to develop insensitivity to many toxic substances and begin to confidently increase their population. US exterminators have noted that the number of calls for bed bug extermination has increased by 23% over the past five years.
The spread of insects into previously uninfected homes is facilitated by tourist trips to exotic countries. Bedbugs travel around the world on the soles of shoes and in things that are brought back after staying in hotels and boarding houses. Parasites can get into uninfested housing through furniture, mattresses, and interior items purchased at a sale.
How does light affect bedbugs?
The peak activity of bloodsuckers is at night. To attack, they choose the period of the victims' deepest sleep at night: this is the time from 2 to 5 am. Usually they strive to create a colony close to feeding sites: the sucked parasite increases significantly in size and is not able to move long distances.
The victim does not feel the bites; the parasite’s saliva contains a special enzyme that has an analgesic effect. The same enzyme helps prevent blood from clotting quickly, and the pest manages to suck out a sufficient amount. One bite is not enough, so the bug is forced to move along the blood vessel and make several punctures to feed.
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A sudden light in the room causes them to scatter; this allowed us to consolidate the conclusion that blood-sucking insects are afraid of bright sunlight and lighting in general.
In reality this is not entirely true. The main motive for bedbugs to attack people is hunger. Insects can go without food for a long time; If a person or warm-blooded animal appears within their colony, which has been starving for a long time, the parasites are able to attack the victim even in bright daylight.
Bed bugs are nocturnal insects; they are forced to feed in the dark by the instinct developed by evolution to preserve the population.
To determine whether an unfamiliar room or apartment is infested with bloodsuckers, you do not need to organize a night hunt. In the room where bedbugs live, a specific smell is established, reminiscent of the smell of fermented wine or aged cognac. It is caused by insect excrement and the specific aroma of the enzyme with which the female attaches the eggs to the clutch.
Under the furniture, under the cracks that serve as shelter for parasites, insect excrement, similar to black poppy seeds, accumulates. The sheets will show brown spots of dried blood from bites and stains from crushed insects.
New old problem
In the 1990s, residents of big cities conveniently forgot about the problem of bed bugs. In the 21st century, say both scientists and exterminators, the situation has unexpectedly changed.
Dmitry Gapon: “ The bedbug, although it originates from the warm countries of the Mediterranean basin, has spread with humans throughout the world, since in the latter’s homes it finds favorable conditions for development, regardless of the natural climatic conditions of a particular region. Therefore, the fight against this synanthropic insect can be considered equally relevant for all countries.
In developed countries, there is an increase in the number of bed bugs. This growth is attributed to the widespread sale of second-hand items, increased tourism and migration from the countries of the Middle East, Central Asia, China and others. An obvious reason may be the formation of bedbug populations that are resistant to various poisons. Of course, in poor countries, where people cannot always afford insecticidal treatment of their premises, this problem can be even more acute. The same can be said about countries with year-round warm climates, in which the spread of bed bugs occurs more freely and their development is faster. And in tropical regions, to the usual Cimex lectularius for our latitudes, another species is added, which also feeds on human blood, the species Cimex hemipterus, which even predominates there in numbers over the first.”
Dmitry Musolin: “Previously, bed bugs were a problem in hostels and hotels, but in the 1990s and part of the 2000s, this problem seemed to be forgotten. Moreover, this situation existed not only in Russia, but in all industrialized countries. And suddenly, about five to seven years ago, the problem again appeared on the agenda: sanitary and hygienic services in Russia, America, and Europe began to receive complaints again.
I remember this incident: a few years ago there was a conference in the USA, which was attended by entomologists (specifically specialists in pests in homes) from different countries - during one of the reports the audience was asked the question: “You were accommodated in hotels, raise your hands, who was bothered by bedbugs this night,” and several people raised their hands.
Most often, the old stock of low-quality housing suffers - first-stage Khrushchev-era buildings, communal apartments , etc.
In the first half of the 20th century, a solid monograph on the ecology of bed bugs was published in the USA, it was used for many years, and then they began to forget about it - and then at the beginning of the 21st century a reissue appeared. That is, the problem is relevant again.
One of the explanations for this is that people began to travel much more, they often visit exotic countries, and from there they brought bedbugs. In addition, bedbugs are gradually becoming more resistant to control measures. In the 70s and 80s they used quite strong chemicals, which were later banned.”
Anna: “ I have been working in the pest control service for 25 years - so, the influx of bedbugs in St. Petersburg happened about ten years ago, and this, in my opinion, started with the wave of migration. Until the early 2000s, our service was a monopoly in the city, and we had all the insects except bedbugs - I never saw them, but ten years ago it went away.”
Igor Belov: “ The problem of bedbugs is widespread in St. Petersburg, it is also present in new microdistricts - for example, on Parnassus, in the Optikov Street area, and so on. However, what most often suffers is the old stock of low-quality housing - first-stage Khrushchev buildings, communal apartments, etc. But there, as far as I know, people often get used to bedbugs and resign themselves to their presence.”
Why do bedbugs only become active at night?
The nocturnal way of life is characteristic not only of bedbugs; many nocturnal parasites feed this way (for example, the well-known mosquitoes). The reason is the structure of the insect - the body of the parasite does not have a hard chitinous coating, like that of cockroaches. The relatively soft body and lack of wings allow bloodsuckers to attack only motionless, fast asleep victims.
Bed bugs feed on people. Insects are able to sense the movement of blood under human skin and unmistakably look for the vessel closest to its surface. Most often, children and women become victims of attacks by bloodsuckers - their skin is thinner. In men, the dermis is thicker, the hairline is thicker, and bedbugs can be repelled by the smell of tobacco and alcohol emanating from the skin.
A kind of protection for the insect is the shape of its body, flat and round. An alarmed victim, turning in his sleep, will not be able to crush a hungry bug; flat insect measuring 2.5 - 9.0 mm. easily hides in the folds of beds and mattresses, narrow cracks in wood and walls.
To attack, it needs a stationary victim - the parasite can move quite quickly in search of food on vertical and horizontal surfaces. A sucked specimen increases in size by a third and becomes inactive. He can crawl into cover only if the person is sleeping.
Parasites choose to attack the most “quiet” time of day, when a person’s sleep is especially deep and the threat to the insect is the least. This rule may be violated if the bedbug colony goes without food for a long time. In this case, they will try to attack a person or animal that is within their reach at any time of the day.
Smells of some herbs
The safest folk recipes for bedbugs are the use of fragrant herbs, the aroma of which repels insects. Herbs with a pronounced aroma will help repel bedbugs - tansy, wormwood, wild rosemary, valerian.
Wormwood for bedbugs
How it works? The fact is that odors are very important for bedbugs; they play a leading role in the internal interaction of insects. When the strong aroma of these herbs interferes, the insects become wary and temporarily stop their activity. If several single individuals wander into your apartment, the pungent smell can provoke their complete surrender. But they won’t protect you from a large colony of insects; the bugs will sit silently under the grass for a couple of days, and when they get hungry, no amount of wormwood brooms under the bed will stop them.
How are the life cycle of bedbugs and light related?
The vital activity of humans and bed bugs occurs at different times of the day - this is caused by the need for the survival of this type of insect. Their desire to hide in a crack is caused by self-preservation, and not by fear of light.
Light of any type - daylight or artificial - will not interfere with the attack of a hungry bloodsucker. These insects do not like daylight - their visual apparatus is designed for the infrared spectrum, but this does not become an obstacle to hunting for food.
Will bed bugs bite if you sleep with a light on?
In infested or unfamiliar rooms, people often tend to sleep with the lights on, believing that this way they can avoid an attack by bloodsuckers. This is a misconception - the parasite’s life rhythm is tied to the time of day. Driven by hunger and the smell of nearby food, they will go hunting at the usual time of day - from 2 to 5 a.m. and will show the same activity as in the complete absence of light.
The picture of mass movement of bedbugs in search of food, with the lights on, can often be observed in cheap motels and campsites in Asian resorts. Unaccustomed tourists are frightened by the dense mass of insects that quickly move along the walls and ceiling in search of prey.
What to do after detection
If bedbugs are found in an apartment or house, residents immediately wonder if bedbugs can only be in one room. Often this is exactly what happens, because these parasites settle in the bedroom where people rest, and they also establish their colonies there, settling in nearby places on furniture or walls.
Therefore, experts recommend starting sanitization of the house as quickly as possible to combat the “bloodsuckers”, preventing them from moving to other areas of the apartment or house. To get rid of bedbugs yourself, use chemical insecticides, which can be in the form of concentrates, sprays, or powders. Folk remedies are good only for short-term scaring. You also need to make sure that no things are transferred from the bedroom to others, so as not to contribute to the spread of parasites.
Conclusion
Bedbugs are nocturnal hunters, attacking a soundly sleeping victim at the quietest time of day. The reference point for them is the sound of blood in the vessels and body heat.
In the process of evolution, they developed the ability to produce an enzyme that anesthetizes the wound on the skin from a bite. This allows the bloodsucker to feed peacefully without the threat of being crushed.
The main motive for attacks on the victim (human or animal) is hunger; Parasites can hunt when the light is on at night, and during the day - in case of prolonged starvation.
Source
Effective methods of determination
There are proven methods for identifying bedbugs in an apartment. It is most convenient to use special traps that can be purchased in the store. But all the devices are needed only to verify the presence of bloodsuckers in the house. It is impossible to catch all parasites with their help. For this reason, many people choose to make their own indicator traps.
Glass for finding bedbugs
To detect insects, you need to take 8 empty plastic glasses, and half should have a smaller diameter. Pour vegetable oil into the bottom of large glasses and sprinkle talcum powder on its surface. Next, place a container of a smaller diameter in each glass and place the structure under the foot of the bed. It's better to do this at night. At night, having drunk human blood, the bugs will try to climb out of the bed and some of them will fall into traps.
Plastic plate
Another simple detection method involves using several plastic plates. They can be placed near the beds in the evening. The bottom of each plate should be greased with machine oil and sprinkled with sugar. You can sprinkle the surface with talcum powder on top. All containers should be checked in the morning. If there are bedbugs in the apartment, a certain number of them will definitely stick to the engine oil.
Detecting bedbugs using plastic plates.
After finding insects or traces of their presence, you should try to get rid of them yourself. In some cases, it is better to use the services of specialized companies. Methods of combating bloodsucking insects are of great importance. Sometimes you can only get rid of parasites by using chemicals.
