Signs You Are Dealing With A Bed Bug Infestation In Sacramento

As familiar and dreaded as bed bugs are, they are commonly misidentified. A similar-looking species to ticks, carpet beetles, fleas, and others, bed bugs may evade proper treatment because of this confusion. Alternatively, household items may be prematurely disposed of when another resident pest is misidentified as a bed bug.

While bed bugs are a nuisance and a hazard to your mental health, identifying an infestation is not hopeless. They can be dealt with before you have to chuck an entire mattress, and with professional help, you can entirely avoid poisons and other health threats.

Bed Bug Basics

While they may be easily confused with other insects, at first sight, bed bugs do have a pretty distinctive appearance and leave plenty of signs as to their identities. At about the size and shape of an apple seed, these reddish-brown pests are somewhat circular from above with small heads and nearly flat from the side. They become redder and balloon-like if they've recently fed.

Bed bugs have distinctive life cycles, from egg to nymph to adult. Eggs are tiny at around the size of a pinhead and are pearly-white in color. If more than five days old, they may be marked by a small black spot. From eggs, bed bugs will turn into nymphs that vary from translucent to whitish-yellow. Before becoming adults, they will shed their exoskeleton several times.

Adult bed bugs are a force to be reckoned with and are extremely difficult to get rid of without professional help. Not only can they survive temperatures of up to 122 degrees, but they can also survive months, and sometimes close to a year, without food. Plastic wrapping infested items are often ineffective for this reason.

Bed bugs can cause such emotional turmoil because of the common myth that they are attracted to dirty homes. This is not true and can be a hurdle for some people who need help. Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers who can travel from hotels, daycares, offices, and any other public space on your shoes, clothing, or baggage. They may even come in with used furniture and appliances. If you fear a bed bug infestation, there's no reason to be ashamed and every reason to seek help before the infestation gets out of hand.