Virtually any place where people live or travel could have bed bugs. Riverside homes are no exception to this problem because of the sheer number of people encountering bed bugs when traveling or from visitors to their workplaces and homes. If you have these pests in your home, contact a Riverside pest control expert to identify and control the infestation.
How To Identify A Bed Bug
An adult bed bug has a flat, rusty-red oval body with six legs and antennae. It is about the size of an apple seed, which means it's big enough to be seen during the day. Before feeding, these bugs are brown and flat. After feeding, they become red and slightly elongated. Other aspects of bed bugs include:
- Oval-shaped body with a somewhat ribbed appearance.
- The head is small in proportion to the rest of the body.
- Bed bugs often grow up to about three-sixteenths of an inch.
Although you can certainly see bed bugs, most Riverside homeowners only go looking for them if they see bite marks. Thus, getting bed bug bites it's often the first sign of an infestation. Remember, you are unlikely to notice being bitten while asleep. But in the morning, you will see small, itchy bite marks. Remember, an expert in local pest control for bed bugs can help identify these pests.
Why Bed Bugs Like To Bite Sleeping People
When you are sound asleep, the last thing you expect is to be woken up by a sharp, itchy sensation on your skin. But for most Riverside homeowners, that's what happens when bed bugs bite them. So, why do bed bugs bite you when you are asleep?
Bed bugs and other insects like mosquitoes and ants are often attracted to the carbon dioxide you exhale when you breathe. Considering that you exhale more carbon dioxide when you are asleep, it's easier for the bugs to find you. Another possibility is that your body temperature often drops when you sleep. This makes you a more attractive target for bed bugs in Riverside.
How Bed Bugs Found A Ride Into Your Home
Most people dread encountering bed bugs in their Riverside homes, which makes sense, given how disgusting these pests can be. But how do these bugs find their way into Riverside homes?
Bed bugs are deemed the perfect hitchhikers because of their uncanny ability to invade homes, hotels, and nearly anywhere people stay. Even if your home doesn't have bed bugs, you can bring them along if you spend some time somewhere infested with these bugs.
Generally, bed bugs spread from one place to another as people travel. They can easily hitch-hike in the folds and seams of your overnight bags, luggage, bedding, furniture, folded clothes, and nearly anywhere else they can find to hide. In most cases, you won't realize you're transporting a bug, and you can potentially start an infestation in your home.
Using second hand couches, beds, and other furniture pieces is another way bed bugs could find their way into your home. This is particularly true if the secondhand items were in bed bug-infested dwellings whose owners didn't use bed bug removal steps.
The Best Bed Bug Control For Your Home
Bed bug infestations are a common problem in Riverside and other California cities. It requires a professional intervention for two reasons; first, you can't starve these blood-thirsty insects because they can survive for months without food (your blood).
Secondly, bed bugs reproduce rapidly. It takes 21 days for a nymph bed bug to become an adult bug. This is the main reason an infestation often spirals out of control quickly. It's unlikely that using any single bed bug control method will eliminate the infestation from your home. So you must implement a combination of bed bug control techniques for your home. This is where Compass Pest Management comes in – they can help create and implement an effective bed bug control and prevention plan for your Riverside home.