If you are waking up with dark spots on your bed sheet and itchy welts on your body, it indicates that you have bed bugs in your home. These tiny insects are expert traveler and may have followed you after a hotel stay or came to your house with the used furniture that you have purchased recently.
No doubt that there is a lot of information available on the internet regarding bed bugs, but some amount of this information can be false or incorrect. After seeing bed bugs in your house, you may take some steps to get rid of them. Before you take an action, it is good to understand misconceptions or myths about these tiny insects. Here are some common bed bug misconceptions. Let’s have a look at them.
- Bed bugs can fly: This is the most common myth about these red brown pests. It is true that they crawl very fast, but they cannot fly. They can hide under the furniture, mattresses, and many other places. These insects typically hide during the day time and active at night.
- You can treat them on your own: Nowadays, there are several pesticides and sprays available in the market. But it does not you are able to use them. Effective bed bug treatment requires a lot of experience and knowledge that you may don’t have.
- You cannot see them with naked eyes: In reality, it can be difficult to see younger bed bugs, but adult are bigger than people think. It means you can see adults with the naked eyes. Typically, they are ¼ to 3/8 inches long, flat and red-brown in color.
- They are only found in beds: It is totally a wrong statement. They love to hide in other places like behind wall hangings, wallpapers, headboards or crevices. At the night time, they typically stay close to the area where you sleep, as they feed on you.
- They can live up to a year without feeding: It is true that bed bugs can live without feeding, but it is wrong that they can live up to a year without feeding. Bed bugs can survive a maximum of two or three months without a meal.
- Bed bugs transmit diseases: Most of the people believe on this misconception that these insects spread diseases like typhus, anthrax and plague. But as per experts, there is no evidence that they transmit all these diseases.
If you spot bed bugs in your home or if you have seen spots on your bed sheet after waking up in the morning, don’t panic. It is true that they can be difficult to treat, but a pest control professional can help you to eliminate them from your house. If you have any question, get in touch with us at 911 Bed Bugs.