Early detection of bed bugs is a significant aspect in treating the site against a bedbug infestation. One of the important factors that has led to the wide spread of bedbugs is lack of public awareness. Bed bugs are nocturnal pests, and often go unnoticed for several months. In the meanwhile, the colony of bed bugs multiples rapidly into an infestation. With a number of hiding places, bed bugs pose a challenge to treat bed bugs effectively in one single treatment. Few precautions and do-it-yourself measures help in detecting the bed bugs at an early stage.
Self-Examination
Look for skin rashes on the body. Bed bug bites in a linear fashion or in clusters. This forms a group of itchy and swollen red welts. However, not all bug bites, should be presumed to be a bed bug bite. Even visiting the doctor may not be fruitful, since medical professionals may not be able to provide a firm diagnosis of the cause of the bite. If the bites seem to appear every night, then there are high chances of a bed bug infestation.
How to look for bed bugs?
Bed bugs are small insects and are hardly visible to the naked eye. It will therefore be necessary to use a magnifying glass as well as a powerful LED torchlight to examine and identify the bed bugs. Check for the physical features of a bedbug, such as, size, color, legs and eyes. Apart from these, check for other signs to indicate its presence. Blood or fecal spots on the bed or bed linen, eggs, eggshells, molt skin and live bed bugs.
Make the process of inspection easier by removing all the clutter from the rooms. Try to dismantle all the wooden furniture if possible to identify the hiding spots of the bedbugs. Flash the torch light on the mattress to check for infestation. Bed bugs are evasive critters that are usually present in the dark corners. Be proactive and make a thorough search in all the hiding spots.
Where to find the bed bugs?
Bed bugs are prone to stay very close to its host, which is the sleeping and the living areas, where it has easy access to the warm blood. Hence, it is necessary to primary check the bedding, mattress, and sofa for the bedbugs.
Bedroom: Check the mattress along the seams, ceiling wall junctions, baseboard, behind headboard, clothes, for fecal spots, cast skins, live and bed bug eggs. Box springs, bed frames, railings, supports, behind curtains, sheets, quilts, curtain rods, bedside table, mirrors, window casing, drawers, storage units, wall hangings, wooden furniture is some of the other harborages of a bed bug aggregation.
Living Room: Bed bugs are present in upholstered furniture, cushions, wood furniture, electrical outlets, appliances, carpets, alarm clock, picture, nightstands, lampshades, frames, behind loose wallpapers, chipped paint on the wall, cracks, crevices and joints of the wall.
Bed bugs often travel freely across the rooms. Inspect other rooms to check for bed bug infestation, if any.
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