Room Service Here: With Your Bed Bugs

A cozy hotel room

flickr.com/fredcamino

It’s always pleasant to find a surprise when you stay in a hotel room.  A free upgrade or complimentary fruit basket is always a good touch.  But a few little extras — like bed bugs — are much nastier surprises.

A hotel can be one of the major carriers of bed bugs.  This shouldn’t really come as a surprise,  as bed bugs are known to breed and live  in beds and mattresses.  The growing number of complaints about bed bugs from hotel guests only proves that the problem is steadily rising.       Read more . . .

Night Bites

Adult brown bed bug

flickr.com/haynes

Have you ever awaken to find itchy bites on parts of your body?  You might have imagined that a mosquito found its way into your room, but you may have been visited by another, more treacherous pest.

Bed bugs are seen around the world, and any home can be at risk of an infestation.  When bed bugs come to visit, they’ll settle in to a dark corner and reproduce until an army can contain literally hundreds of these tiny bloodsuckers. Read more . . .

Bed Bugs: First Bite To Peaceful Sleep

Bed bugs on human skin

flickr.com/56881272@N02

When we tuck in for the night, of course, the last thing we expect is to have a stranger in the bed.  The truth is, strangers can indeed lurk in the bedding, causing the unsuspecting victim to wake up  irritable and itchy.

Bed bugs are an unpleasant truth of life.  These insects can be found virtually the world over; in rural areas and cities, from inner-city neighbourhoods to ivory towers.

The bed bug is identified in scientific circles as Cimex lectularius.  They are one small branch in that immense family tree famous as Insecta.  If ever a time came when all of the creatures of the Earth were eliminated, the pests would be last standing.  With their flexibility and resilience, insects would be left to occupy the planet long after the humans and mammals had become extinct. This is why many insects, as well as bed bugs, can be so hard to exterminate. Read more . . .

Don’t Get Bugged In Bed

Bed bug ready to suck blood

flic.kr/p/81RWoQ

Long before notorious bloodsuckers like Dracula and his vampire bat kin haunted people’s dreams, a small, lesser-known creature was making a bloodthirsty feast of bedtime.  Those devils, the bed bugs, continue to prey on innocent victims to this day.

Scientifically known as Cimex lectularius, bed bugs are tiny pests that feast at night on the blood of humans and other mammals.  In daytime, bed bugs typically locate themselves in the very places where people sleep.  Their tiny bodies are able to fit in the narrowest of spaces, including head boards, mattresses and box springs.  Unlike social insects like bees and ants, bed bugs do not congregate in a single area. Read more . . .

Bugs In Your Bed: Yikes

Bed bugs on the box spring

flickr.com/cuttlefish

Do you ever lay awake at night,  and have the feeling that you’re not on your own?  You are aware  that there’s no one else in the room,  but you just can’t shake the feeling that someone — or something — is right there beside you.

This is not a horror tale,  at least not the B-movie type.  It’s the story of the bed bug, a creepy creature that has caused more night sweats and sleepless nights than all of the horror movie characters combined.  This unwanted bedmate is the lowly Cimex lectularius, ordinarily known as the Bed Bug.       Read more . . .