If you’re having issues with bed bugs, or any of the pest, then it’s time to call a Tulsa pest control company that you can trust. Your sleep is the most important time of day for many people. This time is the time that you use to recharge your batteries. It’s important to get a full nights rest for your health and well-being, and for the health and well-being of your family members. But if you’re being plagued by a parasite, such as bed bugs, this sleep can be hard to come by. And anybody who’s dealt with bed bugs knows how difficult this can be. In this article, let’s take a good look at bed bugs, their life cycle, and what we can do with the help of our Tulsa pest control company to protect ourselves from these parasites.
BED BUG LIFECYCLE AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Bed bugs use an incomplete metamorphosis to develop into adults. This means that the adult bed bug lays an egg. This egg will hatch and the nymph will emerge. The nymph looks much like the adult bedbug but much smaller. This smaller insect will have a translucent color. Its first line of business would be to go and get its first blood meal. Human blood is pretty much the only meal that satisfies these insects. Once it gets its first meal, it’s insides will be stained and it will get its customary orangish brown color. As it feeds, it starts to grow.
The bed bug nymph actually will outgrow the exoskeleton that it’s in and need to molt. The process of molting is much like a snake shedding its skin. It will shed its exoskeleton, revealing a new one underneath. It has to do this because it’s outgrown the tough exoskeleton. If it can’t molt, it will die because it cannot go further through its lifecycle. The bed bug will molt five times total before becoming a reproductive adult. Each time it molts, it must have a blood meal to have the energy to be able to go through the process of molting. This need for energy will repeat itself later in its life as well. Your Tulsa pest control company will have more information.
BED BUG MATING AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Once it gets to full adulthood, it’ll be time for these insects to mate. Bed bugs use a process known as traumatic insemination to mate with one another. The female bed bug does not have a sexual opening in its exoskeleton. Because of this, the male has to break open the exoskeleton of the female in order to put his reproductive material inside. This is very traumatic for the female, and in many cases life-threatening.
In heavy populations, the males can be so insatiable that the females will start to leave the bed, and go up the wall in an attempt to escape them. When you find bed bugs going up your walls, then you most likely have a very severe infestation. Once the females have been impregnated, they will take another blood meal in order to have the energy to lay eggs, and then they will lay eggs in the seams of the mattress. These hiding places are not only were they lay their eggs, but where you will find most of these bed bugs. Get help from a Tulsa pest control expert.
BED BUG SIGNS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
If you think you have bed bugs, it’s time to find the signs. As I stated before, the common place for these bugs to hide in the seams of the mattress. If you look at the seams, you may find the small apple seed shaped insects tucked between the seams. Small yellowish white eggs are about the size of shape of a small grain of rice. If you see any of these, then you know you may have an issue. Plus when these insects bite, they will leave a small red dot. And after they feed they have to defecate so they will also leave a small black dot behind as well. If you’re seeing the small red and black dots around then this means you may have an issue.
Once you decide that you are pretty certain that you have a bed bug issue, then its time to have a Tulsa pest control company come and do an inspection. If they find that you have these insects, then it’s best that you have them do a treatment to get rid of these from your home. While there are many over-the-counter solutions, their results are ineffective at best. Most of them use a pesticide from the pyrethrum family. This is a family of pesticides that were derived from a natural pesticide found in chrysanthemum plants. In the 90s, these pesticides were used extensively against bed bugs and with much affect. Unfortunately, these bugs have become immune to the effects of these pesticides. Because of this these over the counter solutions just don’t work. Your Tulsa pest control company has the right solution.
BED BUG TREATMENTS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
If you’re having a Tulsa pest control company come in and treat your home, they will use usually one of two methods or a combination of both. The first is a heat treatment. There are some companies that want to bring large heating apparatus into your homes in order to bring the temperature of the entire home up above 120°. These insects cannot survive above 120°. These guys treatments are quite expensive and in many cases are ineffective. If you have a really large infestation, the house will heat up slowly. And as it heats up slowly, these insects will flee the heat. They bury themselves in the middle of a mattress or inside the wall, where it’s almost impossible to get the temperature above 120°. A much better solution is using a pinpoint accuracy of a steamer to apply heat to a localized area.
Chemical treatments are quite often used. There are many effective chemical treatments that are available to your Tulsa pest control company. Apprehend is one of the best. This is a natural occurring predator to the bed bug. It’s actually a spore that, when it gets on the bedbug it grows and gets underneath its exoskeleton, feeding on the insect itself. Because this is a natural predator and a living organism, bed bugs cannot develop an immunity to it. It’s extremely effective, and usually completely wipes away the infestation in about two weeks.
If you’re having issues with bed bugs, or any other insect, then its time to give your Tulsa pest control company a call. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with bed bugs, or any other pests. We service agree to Tulsa area, including Owasso, Turley, Bixby, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Claremore, Catoosa, Prattville, Sand Springs Coweta, Sapulpa and much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!