One of the most hated and least understood pest species known to the world is the bed bug (Cimex lectularius). How many of us dropped off to sleep at night as kids with the parting words of our guardians in our ears “sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite”?

Bed Bugs may have started to predate on people at around the time when we moved into caves, the bat bugs Cimex pilosellus and C pipistrella primarily fed on bats and it is probable that bat feeding species of bed bus evolved to feed on human blood when our forebears started dwelling} in bat infested caves.

Before the invention of DDT in the early 20th century bed bugs were commonplace unwelcome guests in most poor quality homes.

The later part of the 20th century saw pest control companies having very few bed bug call outs indeed, their presence being largely restricted to cheap holiday camps and student accomadation etc.

Many people mistake dust mites, which cannot be seen by the naked, with bed bugs which deinitely.

Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, about a quarter of an inch in size and very swollen after a feed of human blood.

Bed bugs regularly feed on our blood every seven to ten days, appearing in the hours before dawn and finding their target by smelling the exhaled CO2 from human breath and when closing in on their target, they sense infra red heat.

In the absence of a suitable human meal to feed on they can lay in a period of dormancy for periods of up to 18 months.

Bed Bugs

The first signs of a bed bug problem are spots of blood on bed clothes and on the edges of mattresses and a lot of people can react badly to their bites.

The early part of this century has seen bed bug infestations expoding across the planet, the easy availability of world travel and economic migration have both been given as reasons for the resurgence.

What is certain is that that are now making a real comeback not only in lower quality housing but first class hotels, schools and even hospitals.

One London borough reported a doubling of bed bug problems every year from 1995 to 2001.

One night away in an infested hotel is all it needs, they catch a ride in your suitcases or bags. Pest control companies are also now reporting cases of transport related bed bug infestations on tubes and buses so a simple journey to work on an infested tube or train can be enough to bring these bugs to your own home.

They are an expensive pest to eradicate as contrary to popular notion they do not just live in beds. They live in any nook and cranny anywhere close to a sleeping person, beds, electrical sockets, televisions, bed side telephones etc and dealing with them is both laborious and time consuming. They have even been revealed found living under the toe-nails of infirm people and in the creases of flesh on flabby people.

One way of stopping bed bug infestation is to fit your bed with Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements.

Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements stop bed bugs from gaining access to your mattress.

Visit to the Protect-a-bed bed bug proof protector mattress encasements site for further details.

They are not a pest that can be dealt with by an amateur and a pest control professional will almost certainly be needed.

Telephone us on 01204 689361