Bed Bug Infestation
Identifying a Bed Bug Infestation
Bed bugs are easy to miss early on. They come out to feed while people sleep and spend the day packed into tight cracks, so a small population can grow for weeks before anyone notices. Itchy bites are often the first hint, but bites alone do not prove bed bugs, since fleas, mosquitoes and some skin conditions can look the same. The surest confirmation is a live bug. Short of that, look for the traces they leave: dark spotting on fabric, shed skins and dead bugs. If you suspect a problem, inspect the bed and the furniture around it closely before moving anything to another room.
Why Bed Bugs Are Hard to Find
An adult bed bug is flat enough to slip into a gap about as thin as a credit card. That lets it hide in screw holes, behind loose trim and inside furniture joints that a quick look will never reach.
Where to Look and What You’ll Find
Start at the bed and work outward. Bed bugs tend to stay close to where people sleep, so check these spots with a flashlight and a thin card you can slide into cracks:
- Mattress seams, piping, tufts and the tag
- The underside of the box spring, where the fabric is stapled to the frame
- Headboard joints, bed frame corners and screw holes
- Nightstand drawers, baseboards, outlet covers and the folds of curtains
- Couches and recliners where someone naps
What each sign looks like: adults are flat, oval, reddish-brown and about the size of an apple seed. Young bugs are smaller and pale, turning red after they feed. Eggs are white, about 1 millimeter long and often stuck in clusters in crevices. Small rusty smears on sheets can come from bugs crushed after a meal. In heavy infestations some people notice a sweet, musty smell.
How they get into Florida homes: they hitchhike. Hotels, vacation rentals, cruises and flights, college housing, used furniture and shared walls in apartments are common routes. An infestation has nothing to do with how clean a home is.
Season: because bed bugs live indoors with their hosts, Florida weather doesn’t slow them down, and they turn up any month of the year. Busy travel periods simply give them more chances to ride home in a suitcase. If you find signs, read how to get rid of bed bugs before moving furniture between rooms.
In a young infestation, bed bugs usually stay on the mattress and box spring. As their numbers grow, they spread outward into the bed frame, headboard and nightstands, then into chairs, couches and wall gaps farther from the bed.
Many people first suspect bed bugs because of itchy red welts that appear overnight on the arms, neck, face or shoulders. Not everyone reacts, and in some people the welts take as long as two weeks to show up, so it pays to look for physical evidence as well.
Signs to look for:
- Reddish stains on sheets, pillowcases or pajamas.
- Black or dark brown dots of droppings that soak into fabric like the tip of a marker. A damp cloth will smear them.
- Pale, empty skins in the shape of the bug, left behind as young bed bugs grow.
- A musty odor in rooms with heavy activity, produced by scent glands on the underside of the bugs.
Florida Bug Control starts with a free inspection to confirm what you have and how far it has spread. From there we build a treatment plan for your home, whether it is a single-family house, a condo or an apartment.
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Florida Bug Control’s All Seasons Protection will treat your home immediately, then begin quarterly treatments the following month to ensure your home is protected from many household pests.
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