With all the recent hype about bedbugs, many people are asking, where do bedbugs come from? Insects of all kinds have been with us since life first emerged on our planet. Scientists call bedbugs Cimicidae and characterize them as small, parasitic insects that like to feast on the blood of warm blooded animals, especially human beings. Extremely resilient creatures, they can survive in temperatures as low as 14 degrees and as high as 112 degrees, with ideal thriving temps being warm and moderate. They do not like high concentrations of carbon dioxide but can handle very low humidity.
Thanks to all the pesticides humans began to use in the 1950′s and beyond, bedbugs began to become much less apparent than they had been over the centuries, particularly in the developed world. However, like other insects, they began to adapt to the poisons as a means of survival and in recent years have once again emerged as a health threat all over the planet. The ease with which people may now travel hastens the spread of many things, and bedbugs are one of them.
Where Do Bed Bugs Hide?
They like to nest in bedding, clothing, suitcases, pillows, and households in general. Although they are not a strictly nocturnal insect, they are most active at night and can feed on the blood of a host human relatively unnoticed given their diminutive size. An irritating and itchy rash is the first hint most people have that they have been infested with the creatures. Allergic reactions and psychological issues are often results of bedbug attacks. They are generally not noticed much during the day and when they are noticed, is an indication of a severe infestation.
Where Do Bed Bugs Live?
In particular, buildings that house many people are notorious for bedbug breeding grounds; such as hotels, motels, apartment buildings, homeless shelters, nursing homes and other heavily inhabited structures where people live or sleep. This is partly because they are inhabited by different people on a rotating basis, some of whom are carriers. The insects will hide behind headboards, in box springs, in furniture, behind pictures and in baseboards, under wallpaper and rugs, virtually anywhere in a room they can burrow into. They will also migrate through the building via the wiring and pipe runs in wall voids. Their flat bodies make them hard to spot and allow them to fit anywhere.
Bedbugs also like trains, airplanes, buses, and cruise ships for the same reasons. They want to be near their food source, which unfortunately is human blood. Bedbugs are found in every country. They are not necessarily attracted by unclean conditions either, because they feed on blood not garbage, as some insects do. However, clean conditions can help arrest the spread of bedbugs. Asking where do bedbugs come from is not likely to get a simple answer, suffice to say, they have always been with us.
