What Are the Signs of a Bedbug Infestation in Your Home?

If you like to travel in public vehicles or stay in hotels, you may eventually experience a bedbug infestation. These pests may hide in your clothes, and you may accidentally carry them into your home. Once bedbugs find their way into your home, they may lay eggs and multiply.

Bedbugs are tiny and like hiding in small spaces. Therefore, discerning whether your house has a bedbug infestation can be difficult. This article highlights four common signs that indicate a bedbug infestation.

1. Bites

Bedbugs like feeding on blood. Therefore, these pests may bite you at night and leave tiny itchy welts on your skin. Often, people confuse bedbug bites with mosquito bites. However, bedbug bites are flat and occur in clusters as zigzag lines. Most people experience bedbug bites on exposed body parts, including legs, arms, and neck.

Nevertheless, you should not depend on bedbug bites to know if your home has a bedbug infestation or not since people react differently to bedbug bites. Actually, statistics indicate that about 30% of people don't react to bedbug bites.

2. Bloodstains

Most people don't realize when bedbugs bite them since these pests often bite people when they are sound asleep. However, you may notice bloodstains on your bedding in the morning.

Bloodstains normally occur due to direct bedbug bites. Bedbug saliva contains an anticoagulant. When a bedbug bites you, it releases the anticoagulant into your bloodstream, which prevents your blood from clotting. Therefore, blood may flow for some time after the pest bites you and stain your bedding.

You may also notice bloodstains on your bedding if you accidentally sleep on bedbugs and squeeze them. After a bedbug feeds on blood, it becomes swollen, and its body changes from a flat, seed-like shape to round. If you suddenly turn your body while asleep, you may crush the pest.

3. Bug Shells

The presence of bug shells in your home is a clear indication that you have a bedbug infestation. As bedbugs go through the various development stages, they shed their exoskeletons through a process known as molting.

Bedbug shells are hollow and translucent. You can find them on your mattress seams, in cracks, in wooden furniture cervices, and on upholstered furniture. In fact, spotting these shells is quite easy compared to spotting the actual bedbugs since they don't move.

4. Eggs

When a female bed bug develops into an adult, it begins to lay eggs. After some time, the eggs hatch into tiny nymphs. These nymphs slowly develop until they become adults.

Bedbug eggs are oval, white, and about one millimeter long. These eggs also contain a hinged cap which allows freshly hatched bedbugs to emerge. Although you can spot bedbug eggs with naked eyes, you need to be keen since you can easily overlook them.

A bedbug infestation can become a significant issue, especially if you fail to detect the problem early enough. Therefore, if you notice any of the signs discussed above, contact pest control professionals. These experts have the right tools and chemicals to get rid of these pests. If you are looking for pest control services, contact Pass Pest Control.