As you are visiting this site it is likely that you fall into one of several categories.

The Bed Bug

Possibly you may have bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) already and want to get rid of them. Maybe you suspect you may have bed bugs and want information, maybe you may be worried about getting a bed bug infestation and want to know how to prevent this, or possibly you are just curious about bed bugs.

Whatever the case this site has the answer for you.

What are bed bugs?

There are a lot of fallacies and misconceptions about bed bugs, one of the biggest urban myths is that every bed has them.

This is simply not true!

Every bed has dust mites which feed on human skin, these are not bed bugs!

Bed bugs are visible to the naked eye and are surprisingly large, especially after a meal of blood! Adult bed bugs are about the size and shape of an apple pip and can move quite quickly when disturbed.

Where did bed bugs come from?

Bed Bug Life Cycle

They evolved from bugs which feed on bats (Cimex pipistrella etc) and probably evolved around the times when human beings started living in caves.

Bats would only live in the caves for half the year round whereas human beings would inhabit the caves all year round, thus providing a better opportunity for a regular meal.

However, because the bugs historically had to endure long periods without feeding, modern day bed bugs can survive

for extended periods without a meal, up to a year or more in fact.

For many years they were practically extinct in many areas, the invention of highly effective insecticides such as DDT and the removal of much of the slum dwellings where they were prevalent saw pest controllers dealing with very few infestations during the middle and later part of the twentieth century. However, during the last few years they are back and with a vengeance.

To say they have reached plague proportions is not stretching the matter too far.

Unlike flies and many other insects they have an ‘incomplete metamorphosis’ which means that they do not go through a larval or ‘maggot’ stage in their development, but the young hatch from eggs as a complete but smaller version of an adult and then grow by shedding their skins.

These skins are often found in beds.

What do bed bugs feed on?

Blood, simply that! They prefer humans but they will bite your cat, dog or other pets as well.

Bed Bug Bites

They are nocturnal and typically will emerge in the early hours of the morning when their target is in a deep sleep. They sense their target by detecting the carbon dioxide in exhaled breath and when close in on their meal they switch to infrared detection of body heat.

They inject their prey with a fluid which is both anaesthetic and anti-coagulant which stops you feeling the bite and keeps the blood flowing. They need to feed about once every seven to ten days.

For these reasons bed bug bites tend to be concentrated on the upper torso, bites on the ankles and lower legs suggest fleas.

Where do bed bugs live?

Another urban myth is that they are confined to beds and that burning the beds will solve the problem. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Bed bugs live anywhere within around fifteen to twenty feet of where a person normally sleeps, which in most cases means the entire bedroom. This is why eradicating bed bugs is so difficult as they are not only in the beds but everywhere in the room, in the beds, under the carpets, in furniture, picture frames and even inside electrical sockets and switches.

I have bed bugs, does this mean I’m a dirty person?

Not at all! Some surprisingly upmarket hotels are fighting a losing battle with these pests and some very famous people have suffered.

Bed bugs do not live in dirt and squalor, their diet is YOU and they are the ultimate in having no prejudices, white or black, rich or poor, young or old they will bite you!

How did I get bed bugs?

Well, very difficult to say as they are so very easy to get these days. Maybe you stayed in a hotel or guest house that had them. Maybe you sat next to the wrong person on a bus, tube or train, transport related cases are booming these days. If you live in an apartment or terraced row, any building in fact with attached neighbours, then maybe they just walked in under the door!

Bed bugs spread like wildfire in any form of communal building, apartments, terraced rows, condos etc.

I’m worried I may have bed bugs, how do I tell?

Checkout our page How To Prevent Bed Bugs

How do I get rid of bedbugs, I know I have them?

Visit our page Before The Treatment

** please read the Legal Disclaimer before taking any actions

How to get rid of bed bugs how to prevent bed bugs

How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs is a post from: Manchester & Trafford Pest Control

You arrive at your holiday hotel at 3.0am, tired and frayed after a long and arduous journey, flight delays, airport security, fractious children and surly passport control and now all you want to do is fall into bed and look forward to the morning and the first day of your vacation.

That could be most costly mistake you’ll make this holiday!

The bed bug (Cimex lectularious) is back with a vengeance and its food is you!

Bed bugs are small haematophagic insects about the size of an apple-pip.

They feed on the blood of warm blooded creatures and their favourite meal is human blood.

Having been virtually eradicated in the 20^th century they are back and spreading like wildfire, all over the world reports of massive increases in bed bug infestations are being made.

Some cite increased economic migration, availability of cheap travel and resistance to insecticides but whatever the reason, they are thriving and they love holiday makers!

They feed on human blood every 5 -10 days, emerging from their hiding places in the small hours when the tourist is likely to be in a deep sleep, perhaps aided by copious quantities of the local sangria.

They sense the presence of a host initially by tasting the carbon dioxide in exhaled breath but switch to infra-red sensing of body heat when closing in on the target.

They pierce the body of their target with a needle containing two tubes, with one they insert saliva which contains both an anaesthetic and an anti-coagulant and with the other they draw blood.

In a heavily infested room it is possible to receive up to 500 bites per night.

So how do you check if your room is infested?

Start by stripping the bed down to the mattress, turn the mattress over if possible and concentrate on the end nearest the headboard.

Look for dark coloured smears, live or dead insects and spots of congealed blood.

Look in the stitching around the edges of the mattress, under the edges of the carpet near the bed and pull out and invert any bed-side drawers.

Bed bugs are quite easy to see and move very rapidly when exposed. You can see photos of the bugs and their smear marks at

If you find or suspect bed bugs on no account stay in that room, or even that hotel, not even for one night or you will regret it, and certainly don’t unpack your cases in that room.

Get hold of your tour company representative immediately and insist on being moved to another hotel.

If you stay in a bug infested room you are very likely to transport them back to your own home as contrary to urban myth they can survive the flight home in your suitcase very easily indeed.

If you have problems with bedbugs call 0800 019 8382 or visit Manchester Environmental Services

That concludes this aticle entitled How Do You Check If Your Holiday Hotel Has Bed Bugs?

How Do You Check If Your Holiday Hotel Has Bed Bugs? is a post from: Manchester & Trafford Pest Control