How to Tell If Your Virginia Home Has Bed Bugs 

Are you wondering if your Virginia home has a bed bug infestation? Do you see bites that you think might be from bed bugs? Today, we're going to take a look at some ways you may be able to tell whether or not bed bugs have established themselves in your home. We'll start with those bites.

Bites

You would think that bed bug bites would be an easy way to tell that you have bed bugs in your Virginia home, but it isn't. Here are a few things you should know about bed bug bites:

• When bed bugs get into a home, the first bed bugs that will bite you are likely to be newly hatched bed bug nymphs. These tiny, pale, and mostly transparent insects are hard to see, and they can leave bites on your skin that are equally hard to see. It's because newly hatched bed bugs don't administer as much anticoagulant in the bite wounds they create, and anticoagulant produces the skin irritation that causes rashes and raised bumps.

• Bed bug bites can be mistaken for bites from other insects. If you don't know to look for three-bite patterns, you may not be able to tell the difference. What is a three-bite pattern? Bed bugs typically bite three times. Entomologists jokingly refer to these bites as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Those silly entomologists.) If several bed bugs feed on you at night, a patch of many bites can have three-bite patterns within it. Or the bites may follow a large path across the skin. Most people don't realize this and try to distinguish bed bug bites by the characteristics of each bite. You won't have much success with this.

• When bed bug bites become numerous and painful, you're likely to know that you have a bed bug infestation, but then it is too late. 

Droppings

Bed bugs leave their feces in many places. If you recognize these droppings, you can not only detect an infestation in your home, but you may be able to prevent one from taking root. The feces from bed bugs is black. It may appear as a speckle of black stuck to a mattress, box spring, sheets, or bedding, but it could be a patch of black that is soaking through from the inside out. You may see streaks of black on bedding or baseboards, outlet covers, the stitching of upholstered furniture, and other unexpected locations.

Eggs

An infestation can begin with a batch of unattended eggs; their mother doesn't sit on their eggs. Those eggs can hatch on their own. Search luggage and bags for these eggs. Since bed bugs come into a home this way, this is a helpful location to look if you want to figure out whether or not you have an infestation. You can also search your mattress, box spring, bed frame, and other locations for these 1 mm, white eggs.

Brown Discoloration

When brown patches appear on sheets, bedding, mattresses, furniture, and fabrics, you may have bed bugs. Bed bugs excrete blood when they excrete their feces, causing light brown, dried-blood staining to occur.

Skins

The skin of a bed bug is called the cuticle. They shed these cuticles as they develop through their 5 instars (development stages). You may find cuticles littered about in locations bed bugs have congregated or traveled. These skins will be pale, tan, or brown in color.

The Best Way to Tell You Have Bed Bugs

If you live in the Greater Roanoke area, contacting All Pest Control & Solutions is the best way to figure out whether or not bed bugs have gotten into your home. The experienced and highly trained professionals at All Pest Control & Solutions use trusted methods for detecting and eliminating bed bugs. There's no guesswork. We know how to find bed bugs and exterminate them. When our team is done, you won't have to wonder if you still have bed bugs in your home, which is exactly what almost every homeowner resorts to using DIY bed bug control does. These bugs have a way of coming back over and over again because they're never actually eliminated. Get real control, real fast. Reach out to All Pest Control & Solutions.