Experiment Update

As introduced I have bottled a number of bed bugs at various age stages in order to examine feeding behaviors and longevity without feeding.

It is purported that bed bugs can live for 365 days (or more) relatively quietly while waiting for their next meal to arrive. Actually many bugs reliant on blood feeding have this same trait. I have seen documentaries about tics in the desert that bury themselves into the sand until a passing buffet disturbs the ground and they wake up and jump on for a feed.

Well, I bottled my samples five months ago and most of the samples are still going strong. There have been a few deaths, a few babies but mostly adults. I cannot say for certain how old the adults I captured were already, but this is what I have noticed.

-Most of the adults have died.
-The babies who have never fed before who were born a few months ago are still alive.
-The babies who have fed and have shed their skin and morphed to the next stage are still alive.
-The gang, adults and young ones held in an airtight container are not doing as well as those in a fresh air container.

One bottle group I put mesh over the opening, and another I put cotton cloth and have intermitently fed them by placing the material against my skin.

First I blow through the material to activate the bottle with CO2 and then tip it onto my wrist or arm, and then observe who is feeding and how long it takes.

My first purpose was to test if they could bite through material, and if so, how thick a layer can they effectively bite through. My second purpose was to have a control group, a group that is fed periodically versus a group that is not fed and to test the longevity of both.

This is what I have noticed about the material thicknesses:

-The adults do not bite through the cotton. They take no interest in it. Even if they have not eaten in months! However the newly hatched babies and the young ones not yet morphed into an adult seem to recognize skin through the cloth and eagerly chow down.
-The adults and the babies do recognize skin through mesh however and feed heartily.
-The bugs also prefer to bite at the edge of the opening rather than the middle, however if the places around the rim are taken they will snug in next to their neighbors or just wait their turn.

The latter point proves to me my theory that bed bugs prefer to feed where they perceive shelter. I quite often find a line of bites running up my shin. When I sleep I do so on my side. My leg is lying on the bed and where the mattress is in contact with my leg, along the edge there is where the feeding takes place.

In this way I can tell from this pattern, the bites occurred while I was lying down.

I also have had a line or grouping of bites across my foot near my toes and realized that the line matches exactly the straps on my sandals so that means that the bites are occurring while I am standing or sitting somewhere for long lengths of time, probably at my desk, and should investigate that area for bed bugs.

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At last! Bed Bug Free

Finally, I changed my bed and did not discover any families in the sheets or pillows. In fact, I have not had any new rashes recently which indicates to me the bed bug problem is resolved! Or, At least, I have succeeded at preventing the from biting me at night, from getting them off my bed! Woo-hoo!

Let me take you through the steps I took here.

Bed Bug Quiz

Here is a quiz from medicinenet.com to test your knowledge about Bed Bugs! Think you know everything? Check again!

Bed Bug Quiz

BedBugs 101: Free iPhone App to Recommend

I just discovered an excellent FREE iPhone app called BedBugs 101. It is like an instant information resource when you need it.

It is packed full of facts and pictures.

Yes, it is an advertisement for the Protect-a-Bed system, a set of mattress, box spring, and pillow encasements that I am willing to endorse, but you do not have to buy anything to enjoy the application itself.

Plus, if you ever find any bed bugs you can instantly report it at the Bed Bug Registry, right there in the App. (I also link to this registry check the side bar.)

I absolutely love this App!

Here is the link!

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/bedbugs-101/id411932955?mt=8

Bed Bug Bite Pictures: Getting Cheeky, Are We?

Bed Bug bites are never welcome, but bites on the face are simply not acceptable. Grrr! These guys were not only hungry but way too cheeky! It is a good thing I was not getting my portrait done!

Bites on the face are too often assumed to be blemishes. This is clearly Bed Bug Bites.

And what about this lovely ear stud? Not!

First Bites

A bed bug infestation is not a walk in the park.

These resilient bugs can hide in any crevice and they can lie in wait for up to a year for the next meal.

They also only need to eat every ten days.

If you have them, the problem probably came on very slowly.

Let's imagine you brought home with you two adults, male and female.

The first bites are not telling of a bed bug infestation. The five or six bite marks look and appear like any old allergic reaction, most likely to the laundry soap or a fabric.

Most people cast it off as an itchy spot, nothing more.

Ten days later the adults that bit you ten days prior feed again. You notice more itchy spots and wonder what you ate.

What has happened between the first and second set of bites? They mated. The pregnant female laid two to three eggs every day. And the first eggs are just about to hatch.

Between day 11 and day 21 you will get a rash of tiny bites every night. As the little bugs hatch two or three at a time they rush for their first meal. They are a little bit awkward so the bites are a bit messier looking. They molt a few days later and rush for their next meal.

And then the adults come back for a feed, after having laid another set of eggs two to three a day.

By this time, day 30, you have probably had over 50 biting incidents. And exponentially, more is on the way.

Sound familiar?

Good. You are in the right place. Stay tuned.