The Ultimate Guide To Effective Bed Bug Control For Yakima County Homes

Many people enjoy a good mystery novel. As you progress through the book, you look for clues as you meet the various characters, travel with them to exotic or unique locations, and encounter diverse situations or items. The fun of reading and working through one of these books is figuring out the puzzle by piecing all the clues together. Hopefully, you figure out the culprit and end your journey feeling satisfaction and accomplishment.

Bed bugs can be a real-life mystery. Many people awaken in the morning with tiny red bumps on their arms, legs, neck, and other exposed body parts and wonder how they got there. At first, the itching is tolerable but annoying, but then the number of blemishes and the accompanying itching increase. You quickly realize you have a mystery that needs to be solved.

Perhaps you found this article because you suspect that bed bugs could be the culprit, and you need to gather more information to confirm or deny your suspicion. If that is the case, please keep reading because we will give you the information you need to determine if you have bed bug infestation.

If all the signs point to bed bugs, you need the Yakima County bed bug exterminators from Prosite. We provide Central Washington with the best bed bug control available. We are one of the few QualityPro-certified companies in the Northeast. The Foundation for Professional Pest Management, an independent organization endorsed by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), awards this honor to companies meeting and exceeding 16 local, state, and federal requirements. Our technicians and customer service agents are background-checked, drug-free, and trained. They have earned certifications and passed numerous examinations.

Now that you know about us, let's look at the clues you see in your house to determine if you have bed bugs.

Visible Signs Of A Bed Bug Infestation

Unlike a mystery novel where you figure out the clues, we will give you the signs and unpack each one. The following hints indicate bed bugs are inside your Yakima County home:

• Bed bugs
• Stains
• Bites
• Exoskeletons
• Eggs
• Eggshells
• Odor

Keep reading to learn about these bed bug signs.

If you see bed bugs in Yakima County, you know you have an infestation, but how do you know if that is what you see crawling in your home? Bed bugs are 1/4-inch insects with six legs, two short antennae, and crinkly-looking, flat mahogany-colored bodies when unfed. After they eat, their body becomes reddish-brown, swollen, and elongated.

Bed bugs are nocturnal insects that feed between 1 am - 5 am. As they move from their hiding places to the host, they defecate a mixture of dried blood and waste and continue pooping during the five to ten minutes they feed on their host. Feces from bed bugs create reddish-brown stains on bed linens, walls, around corners, and wherever they hide.

Mysteries often include riddles, so here is a bed bug riddle. Why are bed bugs called "bugs" even though they are insects? Even though they are insects, bed bugs are "bugs" because they have specialized mouthparts that they use to suck in nutrients. This rigid and beak-like mouthpart, known as a proboscis, enables the bug to pierce the skin and draw blood. Other insects may have this mouthpart, but it is not hard and cannot penetrate the skin to allow them to draw blood.

When bed bugs insert their proboscis into the skin, they inject an anti-coagulate and anesthetic to promote good flow while preventing you from noticing that they are using your blood for food. Your body reacts to the foreign substances from bed bug saliva by dispatching antihistamines resulting in swelling and itching at the bite site. Because bed bugs probe to find capillary-rich areas, their bites often appear in clusters or lines.

Like all insects, bed bugs have external skeletons that they must shed (molt) to allow their growing bodies to expand during each of their five growth phases (instars). You can't see discarded shells from the first few molts without magnification, but you can see the cream-colored exoskeletons from the last stage.

A good spy usually carries a magnifying glass to find minuscule clues, and sleuthing for bed bugs is no different. You can see discarded exoskeletons from the first few instars and pearl-white bed bug eggs with the aid of this detective device. When the nearly translucent nymphs emerge from their eggs, they leave the eggshells behind. Magnification enables you to see the tiny offspring and eggshells.

A good detective knows where to look for clues, so investigate behind the headboard and picture frames, mattress and box spring seams, curtain folds, and cracks between flooring, walls, and baseboards. If you have furniture in the suspected room, look in crevices where the upholstery joins the wood or metal; also investigate corners in nearby nightstands.

Bed bugs release pheromones for communication purposes. They use these odors to indicate mating desires and to direct other bed bugs to hiding locations. A musty smell occurs from the chemicals bed bugs release when many live in a confined area. You'll probably notice the aroma if you have a keen sense of smell.

If sleuthing in the house sounds daunting, don't worry because Prosite technicians know the early signs of bed bugs and where to search.

The Problem With Having Bed Bugs In Your Home

If there is any good news, it is that bed bugs are not known to spread disease; however, that does not mean they are not a problem. Bed bugs are a nuisance that creates itchy bites on your body. These annoying bites can keep you awake at night. Also, when you know that you will awaken with more bites on your body, you can develop anxiety from sleeping in your bed.

Another problem is bed bugs quickly reproduce. If just one fertilized female bed bug enters your house, an infestation will follow. A fertilized bed bug cannot produce eggs until it eats a blood meal. After feasting on your body, it releases 5 to 20 eggs over the next ten days. Each time the bed bug eats a blood meal, it will continue to produce eggs. Just one female bed bug can deliver 500 or more eggs during its lifetime. Due to their quick and prolific reproduction rates, a bed bug infestation can double every 16 days.

You do not need to live with bed bugs because Prosite offers bed bug pest control near you. We will stop bed bugs from reproducing, destroy the eggs, and end the infestation in your home.