Knowledge is power when it comes to bed bugs. Knowing what to look for can keep you from carrying bed bugs into your home. Knowing about their biology and habits will help you control an infestation, should you get one. Share this information with others so they too can help prevent the spread of bed bugs. Here is some helpful information on the study of bedbugs, provided by Dr. Susan C. Jones, Associate Professor of Entomology and Leslie Dybiec, Communications Manager Washington Township Fire Department -

The prevalence of bed bugs in Ohio is a fairly recent phenomenon. However, this insect is not a new pest. In fact, bed bugs were introduced to our country by the early colonists and were common in the United States prior to World War II, after which time widespread use of long-lasting insecticides like DDT greatly reduced their numbers. In the past decade,bed bugs have begun making a comeback across the U.S. Several reasons for this resurgence have been suggested: increase in international travel and commerce, high tenant turnover, changes in pesticide use, and insecticide resistance.

Bed bugs are external parasites, feeding on blood and preferably human blood. If a human host is not readily available, they can also feed on rodents, bats, birds, and pets. During its life cycle, a bed bug hatches from an egg into a nymph and molts (sheds its old skin) five times before becoming a full sized adult, about the size of an apple seed. All nymph stages and adults require blood meals. Adults can live 12-18 months and can survive up to a year without a meal. Females lay from 1-12 eggs daily. It takes 6-17 days for the eggs to hatch. The speed at which a bed bug passes from the egg stage to the adult stage is faster in warmer temperatures but averages 21 days at 86?F.

Bed bugs can’t fly, but they can crawl very fast and cling tightly to surfaces. They prefer to hide during the day in thin cracks and crevices, where it is difficult to see them. They typically feed at night. Contrary to what you may think, the presence of bed bugs is not an indication of poor housekeeping without you knowing it. Eggs, young, and adults are readily transported on luggage, clothing, bedding, and furniture. Bed bugs can infest airplanes, ships, trains, and buses. They are most frequently found in dwellings with a high rate of occupant turnover, such as hotels, hostels, dormitories, apartment complexes, movie theaters, and the like.

Bed bugs can be found about tufts, seams, and folds of mattresses as well as in crevices in the bedstead. They also may hide in window and door frames, electrical boxes, floor cracks, furniture, behind outlet covers and baseboards, and under the tack strip of wall-to-wall carpeting. They can be found hiding in pictures, stuffed toys, wall hangings, drapery pleats, loosened wallpaper, cracks in plaster, and ceiling moldings. Bed bugs prefer to contact fabric, wood, and paper surfaces- all of which are common in human dwellings.

Once you have bed bugs, they are not easy to eradicate. An integrated pest management (IPM) approach of sanitation and chemical and non-chemical measures is required. Sanitation measures include removing all clutter and anything that is stored under the bed, laundering all bedding, clothing, etc. in hot water (at least 120 ?F) and drying on a hot setting for at least 15 minutes, dry cleaning (tell your drycleaner you have bed bugs so they don’t spread in their facility), putting mattresses and box springs in a specialized protective encasement certified as bed bug resistant, caulking cracks and crevices, and vacuuming (and disposing of the vacuum bag in a tightly sealed bag).

Do not use “bug bombs” as few bed bugs will be killed and they will cause the bugs to scatter, worsening your infestation. DEET does not kill bed bugs. Boric acid has no effect because it is a stomach poison and bed bugs feed only on blood. Do not use other insecticides that are not labeled for bed bugs. Never use pesticides on clothing or bedding. Consult a licensed commercial pesticide applicator. Find out what insecticides they are using and if these are labeled for use on bed bugs. Make sure they have a plan to rotate the insecticides they use to overcome the immunity to insecticides that bed bugs can acquire over time. A few insecticides are labeled for use on mattresses.

Reduce your risk of taking home bed bugs. Take precautions every day and especially when traveling or visiting public places that could harbor bed bugs. Check the mattresses in hotels, your clothes, coats, luggage, purse, briefcase, back packs, etc. Check your child’s belongings when they return from their school or college dormitory. If you shop in used clothing or furniture stores, do a thorough inspection of your purchases. Look for bed bug eggs, nymphs, and adults. Particularly be on the lookout for tell-tale black fecal spots that bed bugs deposit in their hiding places.

For more information on bed bugs, consult www.centralohiobedbugs.org or OSU Extension’s fact sheets at http://ohioline.osu.edu. Also visit www.bedbug.com to protect your home from bed bugs with pillow covers and mattress encasements for the home, on the road travel protection or dorm room.

Information and content provided by: Dr. Susan C. Jones, Associate Professor of Entomology, jones.1800@osu.edu. The Ohio State University Rothenbuhler Research Lab, 2501 W. Carmack Rd., Columbus, OH 43210 and Leslie Dybiec, Communications Manager Washington Township, 6200 Eiterman Road, Columbus, OH 43016