While the treatment is not over yet, I would like to know where bed bugs live in the apartment, where they hide most often. From what I have managed to notice: parasites run to the bed, which is not surprising, because they need human blood to survive, so we examined the bed in the first place, found clusters of bugs here. We even looked in the bathroom, in the kitchen - found nothing at all. Perhaps there is a difference in what rooms to look for them. But to do this, we need to learn more about the habits of insects. I want to turn to a specialist with this question: where there is a higher probability of finding parasites. Thank you.
The author of the portal answers the question:
In my material below, you will learn about all the places in the apartment where bed bugs can hide.
What domestic bed bugs look like. Basic signs. Close-up photos
Parasites are invisible only at the initial stage: larvae are small (1-1.5 mm), light colored (milky-white, pale brown). Gradually their carapace becomes darker - in the transition to the nymphal phase, the middle Size of these parasites is 2-4 mm. The body is darker. Adults look similar, but the chitinous shell is brown, black and maroon, the color depends on the degree of saturation of the parasite. The main signs of a sexually mature bedbug:
- The body is segmented, oval in shape;
- The carapace is flattened, but after eating the insect is rounded, increases in size, and darkens;
- 3 pairs of legs;
- tendrils (1 pair);
- pronounced segments on the external covers.
Where and why bed bugs live in apartments and private homes
The purpose of the emergence of parasite on the object is a human being. This is the bed bug's main food source, which means the insect will tend to linger somewhere nearby, allowing access to blood when needed.
Given that bed bugs are slow enough to move, the most obvious place for them to live is in a person's bed.
Here, pests can attack without hindrance and also crawl away unnoticed.
It is not always possible to occupy a sleeping place (for example, if the bed is iron with a simple open design). Then the bed bugs will spread around the perimeter, and choose to do so wherever they can. Other structures, coatings, objects in the room are also infested, if the bloodsucking insects have become very numerous. Sometimes they infest rooms adjacent to the bedroom, where no one sleeps at night, but there is an opportunity to take shelter.
Where do bed bugs come from in the apartment. Sources of entry into dwellings
It happens that it is no longer enough just to know where to look bedbugs. You should also block access to the apartment to other individuals. Existing ways:
- slab gaps (usually there are gaps where pipes are connected);
- The ventilation shaft is the most popular way;
- door units (where there are gaps);
- cracks in various structures, which opens up access to the movement of various insects directly from the neighbors' apartment.
There is also accidental infection, which occurs through household appliances, clothing, furniture - all of these things can be bought or brought in from relatives already infected.
Where bed bugs hide in the apartment during the day
Parasites are nocturnal. They are much less active during the day. If the insects are not carefully hidden, they will be easily found and destroyed.
For this reason, bed bugs are crammed into remote crevices in various corners of the room where people sleep.
Sleeping place - a person's recreational area
Parasites are found not only inside the bed structure, but also in the couch. If there are other sleeping places at home (improvised bed - mattress on the floor, cot), these rooms can also be infested. The pests will be hiding somewhere nearby. They don't always have the opportunity to settle on the cot (for example, if it's packed every morning and set up in the evening). For this reason, neighboring areas are chosen.
Spring block
An enclosed structure is the most suitable place for hiding parasites. Here they feel safe and can multiply to an incredible amount in a short period of time.
If you do not find traces of parasites near the place where they live, you can look for a long time for the causes of bites on the body.
Bed frame
If you need to find out where bed bugs are hiding during the day, among the first habitats to inspect is the base of the sleeping area.
The insects live on wooden structures as well as inside products made of particle board materials.
A metal frame is less suitable for them. Bed bugs occupy areas of complex configuration - with protrusions, height differences, gaps.
Mattress
If there is a leak somewhere on the mattress, the integrity of the upholstery is compromised, there will be dwellers inside. parasites. This is a great way not only to hide, but also to access food without obstacles. It is much quicker to reach the host from the mattress than from the bed frame.
The danger is that it is difficult to detect damage on the mattress - domestic parasites can get in through the smallest cracks.
Sofa
Pests are most likely to live inside a wooden structure. Even if a person never sleeps on the couch, bed bugs appear here soon after bed infestation. This is explained by the convenience of the structure - there are many secluded places where no one will look for insects, for example, under the upholstery.
Bedding
Parasites can settle on the bed only if the sanitary condition of the room is completely deplorable. Alternative habitats: pillow, blanket. Bed bugs do not often get inside, but only if the fabric material is damaged and there are holes.
As a rule, the bedding is changed after the treatment is finished.
Even if the bedbugs die, no one wants to sleep on a pillow with dead parasites left in the filling.
Other upholstered and frame furniture
Look for bed bugs in the room next to the bedroom. Here, other pieces of furniture are also at risk of infestation. Often the insects settle inside the pouffe. At night they find food, overcoming a considerable distance to the next room, and in the morning they return to their nests. And the parasites are more comfortable inside framed furniture.
For example, in the chair-bag they are unlikely to live long: such a piece of furniture is constantly deformed, and the risk of death of pests increases.
Dressers and nightstands
The parasites feel comfortable on the shelves, but only until they have been cleaned. Bed bugs are easier to find here. The parasites also often hide on the back wall of furniture. Sometimes it is impossible to detect them here even by accident. It is necessary to first move the furniture to find the pests.
But it is not difficult for bedbugs to get in there.
Upholstered chairs
Blood-sucking insects in the next stage of infestation of the apartment get inside this piece of furniture. This is more likely if the chair is next to the bed where the person sleeps at night.
Cabinets
The principle of infestation of such furniture and dressers is the same (discussed above). Only parasites will not inhabit a cabinet if it is installed far from the room where a person sleeps at night. Insects are forced to inhabit it, provided that there is a source of food nearby.
Walls, floor and ceiling
Bed bugs do not live openly on the surfaces of supporting walls. They can only stay there if there is a place to hide. The cracks in the floor and under the wallpaper are preferred.
Interior trim elements. Baseboards
Here bedbugs also like to inhabit, because the elements of decorative trim often depart from the walls, the floor, or are originally not fixed rigidly enough (there are gaps). There are baseboards in every room, and there are also baseboards near the bed/sofa where a person sleeps. There may be bed bugs inside.
Insects get under the coating in large numbers, but it is difficult to find them, because traces of their life remain under the baseboard.
Carpets and paintings
In apartments where people like to decorate walls with paintings or other interior items and floors with carpets, the risk of rapid spread of insects increases. They remain unnoticed for a long time under floor coverings, pictures, photos.
Outlets and switches
If you're wondering where they live bedbugs in the apartment, you should be among the first to inspect the named places. The parasites feel comfortable regardless of the area of the infested surface: under the carpet, inside the sofa or a socket, a switch.
However, there is also the danger of insects getting in here - there could be a short circuit.
Under favorable conditions, pests live for a long time inside sockets, switches without consequences.
Bed bugs are found less often here. The reason is a heavy infestation of the object. Some of the parasites migrate, but others look for ways to survive. They settle at the back of the curtains. This is possible if the sanitary condition of the room has deteriorated significantly and no one is cleaning.
Wallpaper
If a person's bedding is disturbed nearby, bed bugs will take advantage of it. They climb inside, spend the day there, and then attack in the evening.
Gradually traces of parasites become visible under the wallpaper.
Uncharacteristic habitats for bed bugs
Rarely do insects end up in the car, the kitchen, the bathroom, or the toilet. It happens by chance. Similarly, pests rarely spread along with clothing, inside bags.
Places where bed bugs live and hide. Housing Attractiveness Chart
In case of a weak infection parasites are found inside the bed/sofa, but as the colony grows, they spread throughout the apartment. Before looking for where bed bugs live, you should study the chart below.
How long do bed bugs live under ideal conditions
Average life expectancy pests in the territory of the apartment, where it is warm, moderate humidity and always open access to food (the most suitable habitat for them) is 10-12 months. But this value varies under the influence of different factors. When it gets cooler, parasites inhabiting this place enter diapause phase. All the processes in the organism slow down, which contributes to the increase of life expectancy. In extreme heat, an acceleration of all reactions is more common. Lifespan is reduced to 10 months.
The hotter it isthe less the bedbug lives.
The option of living without food. Without blood in an empty apartment
There are no exact data. A wide range of periods is mentioned: from 3 months to 2 years. The reason for this range is that the duration of this period is influenced by a large number of factors, among them: humidity, temperature. Such insects can indeed survive in the absence of a food source, so this method of control should not be considered.
After processing
Take into account what dose of poison the parasite has received. In addition, the detection of the nests ensures the success of the treatment.
If the search did not yield anything and many individuals continue to hide in the depths of the apartment, then neither spray nor spray will kill bed bugs.
In this case after treatment If you do not get rid of the insects, they will live for a long time until they die a natural death. If hot or cold fogging is used (when the poisoning agent penetrates all corners of the house), the pests will die within the next few hours, less often within a day.
Video tip (photo + video): where to look for bed bugs, favorite places of settlements (nests) of bed bugs, how to find and disinfect
How to get rid of parasites
Being in the same room with bed bugs, knowing that they will attack at night, is difficult even for those who treat insects neutrally.
Effective control of apartment parasites requires the use of different types of means.
This will help prevent the development of resistance in bed bugs. It is important to use only contact action substances or universal ones (intestinal contact substances), which is related to the peculiarities of feeding.
Proven folk recipes (remedies)
You can fight bed bugs by using recipes:
- essential oils: the intense smells of lavender, tansy, geranium, wormwood scare off pests, apply a few drops on a cotton pad or a piece of cloth, then leave in the bed, couch, but if you apply the oil to surfaces in its pure form, then it will be difficult to get the stains out;
- Vinegar: an aqueous solution (1:1) or the substance in pure form is used - it is applied to surfaces where bed bugs occur;
- ammonia is used to treat all coverings except sofa and other upholstered furniture, as well as beds (add 2 tsp. in a bucket of water).
The most modern effective ways of treatment with chemistry
Insecticides are almost always characterized by an intense unpleasant odor, but there are varieties with fragrances in their composition. The preparations work for a long time (from 2 weeks to 6 months). The effectiveness is different in the varieties:
- Probe. It is a concentrated emulsion, contains a poisonous substance of FOS class, pyrethroids, as well as piperonyl butoxide (synergist, intensifying effect). The product is universal, it kills various insects. The disadvantage is the high price.
- The Executioner. Kills bed bugs at different stages of development (larvae, nymphs, adults), but not parasite eggs. Contains 1 active ingredient - fenthion, which after contact with the chitinous shell paralyzes the insects.
- Delta Zone. The form of release is a liquid with a high concentration of poison. It contains deltamethrin, destroys pests of many species (bedbugs, fleas, cockroaches, flying individuals).
- Medilis Ciper. It is characterized by its ability to work for several months. It contains a common insecticide - cypermethrin. The drug is used to prepare a solution, as it is available in concentrate form.
- Get - a universal agent. It contains microcapsules, which contain molecules of the poisonous substance. They are released gradually, thus achieving a prolonged effect.
People reviews
Expert tips
- If the house is regularly cleaned, the risk of spreading parasites in the apartment is also minimal, in this case it is impossible not to notice traces of pests;
- it is better to use powders to treat woven materials, apply lines with insecticide crayons or use folk remedies, as poisons in preparations will adversely affect human health.
Where street bugs are hiding
Such pests get home to humans randomly, which distinguishes them from their bed-wetting counterparts. Street bugs live in their natural habitat; they overwinter on the surface of the ground (slightly submerged), under bark or rocks, and under old foliage. During the warm season, they are found on plants.
Conclusion
You can tell that bedworms are at home by the features of their appearance and way of life:
- Bed bugs are short (5-8 mm) and brown in color. They attack at night and are inactive during the day.
- They hide near the source of food: inside a couch, a bed. They have a flat body, which allows them to inhabit even the narrowest crevices.
- Pest nests are found inside appliances, under wall coverings, floors (carpets, wallpaper), inside cabinets, outlets, and even behind drapes. The more bed bugs there are, the more they spread throughout the apartment.
English 
Russian 
German 
French 
Italian 
Spanish 
Polish