Bed Bugs

Rosmarie Kelly Public Health Entomologist GDPH

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Good Night. Sleep Tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.

Bed Bug Life Cycle Incomplete metamorphosis - bugs hatching from egg look just like very small adults. There are three stages of development:

Eggs.

• Females lay one to five eggs a day over a period of two to 10 months, producing about 200 total.

• They deposit the 1mm white eggs intermittently each day in protected places near their hosts' sleeping quarters, cemented to bedding or in cracks.

• The eggs hatch in one or two weeks, depending on temperature.

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Bed Bug Life Cycle

Nymphs. • Tiny and colorless at first, nymphs resemble small adults.

• They require a blood meal between each of five molts.

• Blood meals take about three to 10 minutes, at which time the nymphs inject saliva containing an anticoagulant.

• The nymphal stage can last for several weeks under favorable conditions or as long as a year when temperatures or host availability are low.

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Bed Bug Life Cycle

Adults. • About 1/4 inch long, 3/16 inch wide and reddish-brown in color.

• The flattened oval bodies are adapted for hiding in narrow spaces.

• The head has a pair of four-segmented antennae and piercing-sucking mouthparts that fold to lie between the first pair of legs.

• The tiny wings are represented only by pads.

• The body may become greatly enlarged and blood-red in color during a blood meal but turns a dirty brown subsequently.

• Females can live nearly a year without food.

• Males and females both feed on blood.

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female male

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Habits & Habitats Bed bugs are active mainly at night; they reach peak activity before dawn.

During the daytime, they prefer to hide close to where people sleep.

Their flattened bodies enable them to fit into tiny crevices - especially those associated with mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards.

Bed bugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but do tend to congregate in habitual hiding places.

Bed bugs do not fly, but can move quickly over floors, walls, ceilings and other surfaces.

Bed bugs will travel 5-20 feet from an established harborage to feed on a host. Egg-laying females also wander.

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It’s a Bug’s Life

• Nymphs can survive 80-140 days without a blood meal • Adults live at least 6-7 months (maybe up to 1.5 years).

thermal death point

• Below ~55˚ F, development stops

• Above ~99˚ F, development stops

• Thrive at temps between ~68˚ F and 80˚ F

• Die at temps > 111˚F or < 32 ˚F

this is not definitive

• Critical temperatures:

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Bed Bug Facts Bed bugs respond to warmth and carbon dioxide when searching for a blood meal.

All nymphal stages and adults of both sexes require blood for nutrition and development.

Bed bugs ordinarily feed within 24 hours of hatching, once between each molt and once before egg deposition; an average period of 8 days is required between molts.

Adult females will continue to take blood meals every 3-4 days depending on ambient temperature and humidity.

Bed bugs take up to 10 minutes to complete a blood meal, and will consume 2-5 times their own body weight in blood during that time.

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Movement

Spending a night (or longer) in an environment which is already infested by bed bugs (hotels, homes, international flights, etc).

Having someone visit from such an infested environment (bed bugs can be transported in luggage).

Renting furniture or buying used furniture or bedding.

Picking up discarded bedding or furniture from a curbside, trash collection point or dumpster.

Some of the most common ways new bed bug infestations may be introduced include:

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Bed Bug Bites The bite of a bed bug is painless.

The amount of blood loss due to bed bug feeding typically does not adversely affect the host.

Bed bugs feed on any bare skin exposed while sleeping (face, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, etc).

Skin reactions are commonly associated with bed bug bites, which result from the saliva injected during feeding.

Some individuals do not react to bed bug bites, while others note a great deal of discomfort often with loss of sleep from the persistent biting.

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Bites Allergens from bed bugs may be associated with asthmatic reactions.

Reactions to the bites may be delayed up to 14 days before lesions appear.

Reactions may be accompanied by severe itching that lasts for several hours to days.

Scratching may cause the welts to become infected.

Bed bugs have never been proven to biologically transmit any human pathogen.

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Bed Bugs in Multi-Unit Housing

Property Management/Building Manager: • Implementation of a bed bug management

plan • Prompt response to complaints infestations • Coordination of pest management • Contracting and working with Pest

Management Professionals (PMPs) • Provide education and raise awareness of

tenants and staff

What to do before there is a bed

bug complaint.

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Have an inspection plan in place so staff can identify a bed bug infestation before guests do. Train employees to inspect rooms upon vacancy and whenever a tenant complains about bed bugs.

• Staff should look for living or dead bed bugs, small bloodstains from crushed insects, or dark spots from droppings.

• They might find bed bug remains on the linens, the mattress and its seams, the bed springs, behind the headboard, in the seams of upholstered furniture, or even between floor boards.

HOW SHOULD MANAGERS RESPOND WHEN A TENANT COMPLAINS ABOUT BED BUGS?

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Have a plan in place to address bed bug infestations as soon as they occur, and train staff accordingly. When a tenant complains, managers should:

• Verify that the infestation is actually bed bugs. • Provide a fact sheet about bed bugs. • Reassure the tenant that bed bugs are not known to spread disease. • The tenant should launder all their clothing and bedding.

• Potentially infested clothing and bedding should be washed separately in the hottest water and dried on the hottest cycle that is safe for the materials.

• Clean clothing and bedding should be stored in air-tight plastic containers

• No items should be removed from the apartment unless it has been treated or fully enclosed to prevent bed bugs from being spread.

• Bring in a licensed PMP as soon as possible for a complete inspection and treatment of the rooms.

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Bed Bugs in Multi-Unit Housing

Tenant: • Learn about bed bugs and their identification • Follow pre-treatment preparation guidelines • Minimize clutter to reduce potential bed bug

harborage • Maintain regular vacuuming regimen and bed

linen laundering • Regularly examine the bed and room for signs

of infestation • Promptly reporting of suspected bed bugs to

management • Cooperate with PMP and facility management • Do not collect used or secondhand beds,

couches, and other used furniture and items

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Bed Bugs in Multi-Unit Housing

Pest Management Professional (PMP): • Be able to respond swiftly and appropriately • Provide property management and tenants

with steps they need to perform to allow for treatment

• Manage bed bugs according to approved practices

• Develop bed bug plan for each individual infestation, provide plan to property management

• Liaise with property management • Provide the required follow up inspections

and post treatment monitoring

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Make sure you really have bed bugs.

• You cannot tell from a few bites that you have bed bugs, and not everyone reacts to bed bug bites.

• You do need to find actual bugs to know for sure.

• Bugs you collect should be taken to an Extension Agent, Environmental Health Specialist, Pest Management Professional, or Entomologist for identification.

• Do not rely on the internet for identification as not all information found there is accurate.

So, you think you might have bed bugs. Before you do anything, there are a few steps that should be followed:

Bed bug

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Not Bed Bugs

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG369/keys.html

Key to Common Pests of Man and Animals

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INSPECTION

Where the inspection site is an apartment, it is important that the entire complex be informed of the potential problem.

Efforts should be concentrated on dark, isolated and protected areas. Bed bugs prefer wood, paper and fabric surfaces and so these materials should receive special attention during the inspection process.

The mattress should be the first site inspected and the seams, beading, under buttons, labels, and corner protectors (if not previously removed) should be examined closely.

Be sure to inspect the entire apartment, not just the bedroom.

This is best done by a PMP.

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Check the Bed Remove all the sheet, checking for blood spots. •Stand the mattress up. Remove the box spring and flip it over.

• Inspect the mattress closely, paying close attention to the seams.

• Inspect inside the box spring and under it (where it meets

the bed frame). Shine a flashlight through the bottom of the box spring.

•Check any head and foot boards as well as anything stored under

the bed.

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Check the Rest of the Rooms

Check inside all drawers, crevices, and narrow spaces.

Look under electronics, behind electric wall sockets, behind pictures, and in stacks of clothing.

Check all the furniture.

Bed bugs are often found hiding in tack strips under wall-to-wall carpeting and behind baseboards.

Bed bugs tend to crawl up, so check drapes and wall decorations.

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Treatment & Control

A written integrated pest management (IPM) plan should be requested from the pest management professional.

This plan should detail the methods and insecticides to be used by the pest control operator and describe the efforts expected by the home owner.

Generally, pesticides will need to be applied in conjunction with any non-chemical means of control; heat treatments, if done correctly, do provide good control.

Pre-Treatment Preparations

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• Prior to the arrival of a pest management professional, infested rooms should be stripped of all bedclothes, cushions, and removable cloth items.

• All furniture should be moved away from walls, and all items should be removed from furniture drawers.

• To prevent bedbug contamination of other areas of the apartment, launderable items should be sealed in plastic bags for transport to the laundry or laundry room.

• Carpets and all furniture should be thoroughly vacuumed, paying special attention to cracks, crevices, drawers, and voids.

• Mattresses and box springs should be removed from bed frames and vacuumed along all seams, folds and uneven surfaces.

• Filled vacuum cleaner bags should not be left in the vacuum cleaner to be used in uncontaminated rooms. They should be tightly sealed in a plastic bag before discarding.

• Bedbugs are able to travel between rooms through wall cracks or along electrical, ventilation or pipe conduits. Therefore it is recommended that all rooms adjacent to (beside, above and below) the infested room be thoroughly inspected for the presence of bedbugs.

Non-Chemical Means of Control

• Put bedding and clothing in the dryer at high temperatures for 30 minutes to kill bed bugs (just washing will generally not kill bed bugs).

• Heat infested articles and/or areas to at least 120 ºF (approx. 49 ºC) for 90 minutes to ensure that eggs are killed.

• Vacuum • Use mattress and box spring enclosures

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Physical Removal Where infestations are heavy, treatment and removal of infested furniture and mattresses may be necessary.

If bed bug numbers are small, they can be physically removed from mattresses and harborage sites by vacuuming.

After bed bugs are removed, cracks in plaster need to be repaired and loosened wallpaper glued down to eliminate bed bug harborage sites.

Bed bug exclusion covers can be used on mattresses and bed springs to prevent re-infestation and need for disposal.

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Pesticides - THE LABEL IS THE LAW With the exception of dry heat, non-chemical products and techniques are incapable of efficiently or quickly controlling or eliminating established bed bug populations. Precise placement of a suitably labeled, registered and formulated chemical insecticide is still the most practically effective bed bug control. The choice of chemical products and specific application techniques can depend on many factors, including the physical location and structural details of the bugs’ harborages, the product’s labels (which can vary by political jurisdiction), the immediate environment, and local or national laws.

Using Pesticides • The best option is to hire a licensed PMP. • Use a comprehensive strategy for controlling bed

bugs - pesticides should be only one part of a multi-part IPM plan.

• Use the EPA Bed Bug Product Search tool to help you find a pesticide product that meets your needs.

• Currently, there are over 300 products registered by EPA for use against bed bugs.

• Many are available to home owners, although these often do not work well.

• Before reapplying or trying a different product read the EPA document, ”When Treatments Don’t Work”.

https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/controlling-bed-bugs-using-integrated-pest-management-ipm

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These devices release insecticide in small droplets that land on exposed surfaces and do not penetrate the cracks and crevices where bed bugs hide. This results in increased pesticide exposure to the resident and poor control of these pests. This has been linked to pesticide resistance and suspected repellency to bed bugs, causing them to spread.

The use of “bug bombs” or total release foggers is NOT advised.

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In an ill-advised attempt to exterminate the pests, the woman came up with a plan to douse her couch in alcohol to try and kill the bugs. After she fully covered the love seat in the alcohol, the woman then made the mistake of accidentally dropping her cigarette on the couch, instantly igniting the extremely flammable piece of furniture. … End result – the apartment complex burned down.

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FOLLOW-UP

Glue boards placed close by harborage areas may help monitor bed bug activity by catching bed bugs as they move about at night.

Monitors – NightWatch; CDC300; BB Alert; Interceptor; Bug Dome…

Many times the first application does not seem to give complete or immediate control. Additional treatments may be necessary in 10 to 21 days.

More Follow Up

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At least one follow-up inspection of infested sites should be conducted at a suitable interval (10-21 days) after each control effort or treatment so as to detect any signs of continued infestation, like live bugs, cast skins (after those present earlier had been removed), fecal spots on bed linens or harborages, or un-hatched eggs.

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A Few Useful References

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/bedbugs.htm

http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/tims/TG44/TG44.htm

http://www.techletter.com/bedbugalert.html

http://health.state.ga.us/epi/zvbd/infest/index.asp

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/bedbugs/

http://www.bedbugbmps.org/

http://www.bedbugcentral.com

Be Careful! There is a lot of misinformation out there.

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Any Questions?