Posts Tagged "bed bugs minneapolis"

1. What are bed bugs? What does a bed bug look like? Can I see bed bugs? Do bed bugs fly, jump or burrow into skin? What other names do bed bugs have? If you ever heard that nursery rhyme Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” you know these critters bite in the night. But most of us never heard of them in real life until now. What do bed bugs look like? Briefly: 1/4” long, oval, flat, 6 legs, and reddish-brown. Some fast facts… Life Stages: Eggs hatch into nymphs. Newly hatched nymphs are tiny—about 1/16th of an inch. Nymphs—which look like small adults—become adults in 5 weeks. They go through 5 molts to reach adult size—meaning they shed their old, smaller skin 5 times. They must feed before each molt. Females can produce 5-7 eggs per week, laying up to 500 in a lifetime. Bed bugs grow fastest and lay most eggs at about 80°F. They feed only on blood. They feed when people are sleeping or sitting quietly, often when it’s dark. They seek shelter in cracks and crevices when not feeding. They poop out “blood spots.” Spots look like dots made by a fine felt-tipped marker. You’d see them near where they fed and near their hideouts. Adults can live over a year without a meal. Adults, nymphs and eggs can survive sustained heat and cold if given time to adjust. Can be found in the cleanest of clean places. But clutter makes them harder to get rid of. They have no “grooming behavior”—meaning that insecticides meant to be swallowed by roaches and flies won’t work on bed bugs. A little more… Anatomy: A bed bug has 6 legs. Its antennae point forward and are about half as long as the body—not longer. Its head is broadly attached to its body and it has no wings. Eight legs indicate a tick or mite. Six legs and long antennae with two spikes coming off the back (cerci) might be a roach nymph. Carpet beetle larvae have hairs all over their bodies. Carpet beetle adults have two hard wings. Color: A “drop of blood with legs” is probably a recently fed bed bug....