Bedbugs usually bite during the night while the host person is sleeping. Scientists think that the bedbugs find the host person by following the carbon dioxide that the person exhales. Bedbugs seem to prefer to bite people in areas where body hair is sparse. Bites seem to be most common on hands and feet and on the head and neck.
Bedbugs break the host person's skin with their mouth. It is beak-shaped, but most people do not feel the bite. Adult bedbugs feed for 10 or 15 minutes. Newly hatched nymphs only feed for 3 or 4 minutes.
When a bedbug feeds, it uses two tiny tubes. The first tube goes into the host's skin so the bedbug can inject some of its saliva. The bedbug's saliva keeps the host's blood from clott6ing during the feeding process. The bedbug uses the second tube to draw blood into its mouth.
After being a host for a while, some people develop a reaction to the bedbug saliva. Most of the time, this appears as an itchy skin reaction. Sometimes the victim causes an infection by scratching. When this happens, it often causes confusion. The victim often blames a cut, a scrape, or some other injury for the infection.
Sometimes the allergy appears as a red welt at the bite site. This often causes confusion too. The victim often blames the red welt on a mosquito, a flea, or a spider. In a few cases, a sensitive victim develops swelling beyond the area where the bite happened.
Even though bedbugs hide during the day, they leave evidence that reveals their presence. Bite victims often find small blood spots on the sheets and bedding. Bedbug victims also find dark fecal stains around the crevices where the bugs hide. These stains may appear on the mattress, the bed frame, or on the baseboard behind the bed.
If these clues are found around the bedroom, it might be a sign of bedbug activity. A thorough inspection will confirm whether bedbugs are present. Many people prefer to call pest control professionals. They can inspect, identify the real cause of the problem, and prescribe the proper treatment.
