Your Tulsa pest control company can help you eliminate bed bugs from your home. Bed bugs are a terrible insect to have to deal with. They’re very difficult to get rid of and they will rob you of your sleep at night. These terrible insects are blood feeders that make their way out when you’re in your most vulnerable point. As you sleep, they feed off of your life blood. This can cause huge amount of stress and a general uncomfortableness about sleep and  bed bug bites. So in this article, let us take a good hard look at bed bugs, their life cycle and what you and your Tulsa pest control company can do to protect yourself from these insects.

BED BUG HISTORY, AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

Bed bugs have been around since the beginning of time. We have documents starting all the way back to ancient civilizations referring to bed bugs. There are cave paintings that have pictures of bed bugs on them from caveman, and we have writings by the Romans discussing how to eliminate bed bugs. We have love potions from the middle ages that describe bed bugs as one of the ingredients. 

It’s believed that back when we were still living in caves, there were bats roosting above us. These bats were tormented by a similar bug known as a bat bug. Bed bugs look almost exactly the same as a bat bug. In reality, it takes an entomologist to tell the difference between the two. They are blood feeders, and feed upon the blood of bats. It’s believed that at some point some of these bugs made their way down the wall and started feeding on humans. This became the modern day bed bug.

DDT AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

Bed bugs tormented people all the way up until the 1940s. But in the 1940s a new miracle pesticide came on the scene. This pesticide was Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. DDT killed everything off, so many problems were solved when it came to pests and pest control. Often people with bed bug situations would completely douse their mattresses and sheets with DDT in an effort to kill off bed bugs. And their treatments were actually extremely effective. Bed bugs died off in droves. In fact, they almost went completely extinct during this time period. 

But the only problem was that DDT caused cancer. When scientist found this out, it didn’t take long for governments to start removing DDT from the shelves, and not allowing people to use it as a pesticide. This allows the bed bug to make a resurgence. Nowadays we have larger populations of these bed bugs than ever before. Every year we get more calls at TermMax pest control for bed bug situations.

BED BUG SIGNS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

So in order to identify if you have an infestation, you’ll need to know what the signs are for bed bugs. These small insects are about the size of an apple seed and an orangish brown in color. In their infantile stage, right after they get out of an egg, they’re about the size of a head of a pin. They have a translucent color at this stage but as soon as they take their first blood meal, they’ll get their orangish brown color because of the staining on the inside of them. 

Often when these bed bugs bite, a little bit of blood will come out on the sheets of the mattress. You’ll see there’s many small red dots. In addition, once they feed, they will need to defecate. You will see the small black dots on the mattress and sheets. If you’re seeing these small red and black dots, this could be a sign that you’re having an issue with bed bugs.

BED BUG EGGS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

Bed bugs also lay eggs. These yellowish white eggs are a small grain of rice in size and shape. Inspecting around the seams of your mattress, you should be able to see these if you have any sort of infestation. While these insects are extremely good at hiding, once the populations get to a certain stage, it will be almost impossible to miss them. Of course, you’ll also notice that you will be getting bites in the middle of the night. The tricky part about this is that everybody responses to bites a little differently. Some people get small mosquito bite like bumps that itch. Some will get large rashes. And some people don’t have any response whatsoever. People who don’t have any response usually don’t even know that they’re getting bit. Contact your Tulsa pest control company for a free inspection.

BED BUG HITCHHIKERS

So how do bed bugs find the way into your home? They will simply hitch a ride. If you have a problem in your home with bed bugs, it’s possible that one of them could attach themselves to your pant leg or a book bag and go with you for a ride. These bed bugs will search out for a new person that they can infest with bed bugs. So if you were in a waiting room or in a classroom, it’s possible that these hitchhikers could make the way to you from someone who has an infestation to someone else who doesn’t. 

These hitchhikers will make their way into your home and set up shop. Soon you’ll have your own issue if you pick up one of these little stow aways. It’s usually impossible to figure out where you picked up the bed bug from because there’s so many possibilities. Contact your Tulsa pest control company for help if you think you may have contacted these bed bugs.

If you’re having an issue with bed bugs, or any other pests, then its time to contact your Tulsa pest control company for help. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with bed bugs, or any other pest. We service the greater Tulsa area, including Jenks, Owasso, Turley, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Coweta, Catoosa, Claremore, Sand Springs, Prattville, Sapulpa, and so much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!