Despite not having wings, bed bugs are surprisingly mobile and agile pests that can make their way into your home at any moment. These pests typically get around by hitchhiking onto hosts who visit certain homes or hotels already infested with their kind. Once they settle into yours, they can spread quickly throughout the household and bring harm to other family members and pets alike. To better understand how they invade living spaces, learn their travel patterns and how they can infest your residence.
How quickly do bed bugs spread from room to room?
Bed bugs can go further than one would expect. That is because they are highly capable of surviving for long periods with little to no food at all, with adult bed bugs lasting for as long as a year, according to research. Bed bugs typically hide in used items, luggage, clothing, furniture and other materials you bring in from the outside.
Once they find a suitable environment where they can feed on blood meals, it only takes them a few minutes to increase rapidly in number across the entire space in search of other hosts. Because of the fast rate at which they lay their eggs, generally, one to 12 eggs a day, infestations can occur within a matter of weeks or months.
Given how this kind of pest problem does not take long to go out of control, it is best to contact pest control services before it gets to that point.
How bed bugs travel from the outside into your house
The more you keep inviting guests into your home or travelling, the higher the rate at which bed bugs can spread from house to house. As mentioned, these pests are adept at hitchhiking, and they can latch onto generally anything and anyone to travel from place to place. Below are some of the common ways in which they spread.
1. Crawling
Although hitchhiking is usually their preferred method of travel, bed bugs can also crawl at relatively high speeds with their six legs — around 0.9 to 1.2 metres per minute — on virtually any, if not all, surfaces. The rate of their speed is comparable, relative to their size, to an average human adult who is sprinting.
2. Movement of items
Bed bugs travel from one place to another by hiding in an assortment of items such as luggage, bedding, boxes of furniture, clothing, and more. Moreover, they are typically prevalent in spaces with a high rate of overnight guests like hospitals and hotels.
3. Breeding
After feeding, these pests will return to their hiding spots to digest their meal and mate. Under the right conditions, the eggs of bed bugs can mature and reach adulthood in only a month and a half, each with a lifespan of around four months to a year.
Can bed bugs spread from one person to another?
Bed bugs do not actually live on warm-blooded hosts; they only feed on them. While bed bugs can spread from person to person, they generally latch onto the items people transport home or onto articles of clothing. Their opportunistic nature means they will wait and hide until they find a convenient environment to feed easily. If their hiding spots are disturbed, they will quickly move to another location, making it challenging to inspect and treat bed bug infestations.
Conclusion
Although bed bugs are generally not as big of a threat as other pests, they still pose certain health dangers to you and your family. As such, if you begin to notice yourself feeling itchy all the time, especially during sleeping hours, you may already have a bed bug problem. And if that is the case, it is not far-fetched to assume that it has already developed into an infestation warranting pest control services.
If you have detected the presence of bed bugs in your home, don’t hesitate to call on our experts here at PestClinic. From thorough inspection to complete removal, we deal with any and all of your pest problems effectively and safely. Apart from bed bugs, we also handle termite inspections and other pest treatment services for a wide range of common household pests. For more information about our pest control solutions, do not hesitate to call us at +65 6397 5677.
