BED BUGS: HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW!

Bedbugs are the ultimate hitchhiker due to the tick hook they possess to grab onto unsuspecting victims. Ticks use a very similar claw to attach themselves easily to mammals as they pass them in the wild. As a potential blood meal passes closely to the bed bug they patiently lie in wait to capture their next blood meal. Bedbugs do not have the ability to fly and can’t leap from one surface to another. They will commonly attach themselves to luggage, backpacks, clothing, bedding and furniture. Their mouth secretions have an organic pain killer which allows the bedbugs to feed without waking or disturbing the host. Many individuals experience no reactions to the bites which allows the infestation to continue to grow before the homeowner notices there is a problem. Bedbugs only feed on blood and unlike the mosquito both the male and female readily seek out a potential host. The Evansville, Paducah and Owensboro area a high traffic territory for bedbugs making up about twenty percent of Pass Pest control’s annual revenue. One of the reasons for their very quick spread is that they are prolific breeders. A single female can lay anywhere from 5 to 20 eggs per day and as many as 600 in her lifetime. The size of the population can double in two weeks under the right conditions without exposure to protective measures. Bedbug eggs usually hatch within 10 days and nymphs can reach full reproductive ability in about 30 days. The most disturbing reason for increasing bed bug spread is the method of reproduction utilized by the male bedbug. Instead of using the female’s normal reproductive tract the male uses a dagger shaped appendage to mate directly with the female direct injection into her abdomen. This process is very painful to the female and repeated exposure over time can limit the female’s life span and breeding capacity. As a defense the female tends to migrate away from larger congregation of other bedbugs as this is likely to occur. Normal infestation points like beds, couches and chairs develop into infestations in other areas where they are not normally seen. Males are attracted to well fed females. However, a male bed bug which has freshly feed can also become a target and experience traumatic insemination that could lead to their death.  Unfortunately, bedbug infestations are not an item that a business or home can budget as a regularly expected occurrence and over time their treatment can become expensive depending on what treatment is done. Shortcuts or general disinterest from hospitality, hospitals, nursing homes and secondhand clothing and furniture stores can cause infestations to grow exponentially. Several years ago we were introduced to a sales technique called the Sandler system. One technique that I had seen demonstrated was what I call the assumptive infestation call. That is not the proper name of the prospecting technique however it is the most fitting for the strategy. Being naturally skeptical that the process would work I decided to try the method myself. My branch manager and I were making cold calls in the Hopkinsville, Kentucky area when we passed a secondhand furniture store. The procedure was designed to work as follows. If I were cold canvasing restaurants on a particular occasion I would just walk in and state , “I’m here about your cockroaches” and not say another word until they responded. Sometimes there would be an uncomfortable delay but a response typically would be who they currently use, if they had an infestation or I would be directed straight into the kitchen. On this day, we walked into the secondhand establishment and I asked the question as trained, “I’m here about your bedbugs”. The people looked at each other nervously and after what seemed like a long delay one of the guys pointed at an arrangement of furniture and stated, “you mean that couch right there”? The proprietors knew that the piece of furniture was infested and chose to sell it anyway without treatment. This is the typical super spreader event that we have all heard about. The individuals that worked in the Hopkinsville store were obviously exposed to the insects as well as anyone who walked into the store and sat on it. The unsuspecting customer would then take the couch to their home which would in turn infest the belongings of the homeowners. This would lead to the possibility of the homeowners transporting the bedbugs to their place of work, church or other gathering areas. Anyone visiting the home would also be at risk when coming into close contact with the infested area. Just recently, in our Paducah area branch we encountered another issue at a nursing home that would qualify as a major infestation spreading event. A nursing home that we had serviced for quite some time for general pest asked to come out to give a bed bug quote. It was odd in all the years we had serviced this facility they had never made such a request. Upon inspection we discovered that the entire facility had a major problem. Upon inquiring from the management about who had been servicing the facility we were given the name of an individual. The manager stated, “he’s here if you want to talk to him about what he is using”. We were lead down a hallway and lead into a patient’s room where a very elderly man was sitting a bed. This man, likely 80-90 years old explained to us that he had been buying drione dust and putting it in every room in the facility. Obviously, there are many problems with this. Firstly, the manner he was applying the dust violated the label. Secondly, the facility was using an unlicensed applicator with no experience in the pest control industry. Lastly, the solution was not at all effective. This creates several additional problems. The facilities infestation was now so severe that the only curative method would be the use of a fumigant. The staff, visitors and the families have now been exposed to a large bed bug infestation facilitating a much larger event. Another good example was a hotel in the Metropolis, Illinois area that had ignored their infestation to the point where nearly every room had been impacted. The owners knew they were there and continued to rent out rooms to the public knowing the risks and that control applications had never been rendered. Once again, every member of the staff, workers, clients and every person the guests encountered were now a candidate for infestation at their own homes. The ultimate question is how you protect yourself from businesses that contribute to the possibility of causing an infestation at your own business or residence. To begin, when checking into a hotel ask the manager if they have a bed bug protocol and a regular pest control provider. Secondly, I would always check the “bed bug registry”. This is an accumulation of reports made by consumers detailing their experiences with bedbugs at hotels, airbnbs and other public gather locations. Lastly, before you place your belongings into the rooms perform a thorough inspection on the bed, couch and nightstand before bringing your supplies into the room. You will be inspecting for the presence of live insects which will be brown with a tear drop shape but the most telling will be the presence of blood staining on the bedding and mattress. Likewise, if you are faced with making the decision of putting a loved one in an assisted living facility or nursing home follow the same procedures as you would as checking into a hotel. If you are in the market for new furnishings I would be cautious about buying used items without prior treatment or a very thorough inspection to prevent the spread into your home.

When most people think of spiders in the Midwest the first thing that always comes to mind is the brown recluse spider. No spider with the exception of the black widow strikes more fear in residents of Evansville, Owensboro and Paducah than the “ole fiddle back”. So, we will start there. Why are brown recluse spiders referred to as fiddle backs? Most brown recluse spiders are a light brown color. On the cephalothorax, the segment right behind the head, there is a marking that is darker than the surrounding area. That marking resembles an upside-down fiddle. Males are usually more active and will be caught readily in glueboards. The female however will have a lighter/ yellowish color to the abdomen and stay relatively close to a very small, disorganized web. A brown recluse is a relatively small spider that is not web dependent. Typically, they will range from the size of a nickel to the size of a quarter, legs included. Most brown recluse are found in dark and moist areas. Most brown recluse in the tri state area are found outdoors under discarded items, rocks, under leaf litter, under the bark of trees and in woodpiles. They are an ambush predator and do not rely on a web to capture prey. Their venom is very toxic to insects and contains cytotoxic enzymes which damage blood vessels and cell membranes. Recluses are not normally aggressive and do not seek out contact with humans or other mammals as a food source. Unfortunately, people still do get bitten and in about 10% percent of the cases the bite can be severe. This usually occurs when people put on clothing that the recluse has made a harborage point. A pair of shoes that has not been worn recently or a shirt or jacket in a closet are good areas for brown recluse to harbor. Always check or shake out items of clothing before you put them on if you suspect that you might have an infestation of brown recluse spiders. Most people are not even aware that they have been bitten and the bite may create small irritation or itching. For the 10% that react violently to a bite the reaction can be very serious. For some, the bite will become very red and resemble a target with a bullseye in the middle. Some of the bites will advance beyond this redness and necrosis may occur. Necrosis is the premature death of skin and cells that occurs when the skin comes in contact severe infections, trauma or introduced toxins. The affected area can’t be cured must be removed via medication or surgery. In very severe cases plastic surgery is required to reduce the unsightliness of the scar. The most effective way to combat brown recluse infestation is a good exclusion protocol on the exterior to stop spiders from entering to overwinter. Common entry points are around doors, windows, soffits, vent, pipe openings and crawl space doors. Glue boards are very effective in reducing the male population and monitoring the existing populations but a more in-depth treatment including regular vacuuming may be needed in larger populations. In very severe infestations fumigation may be necessary to eliminate the issue.  Another common spider that many residents in Paducah, Evansville and Owensboro may encounter is the black widow spider. Black widow spiders are a web dependent arachnid and use their web to capture prey. They build small unorganized webs in dark areas. Typically they will be found underneath brick ledges, soffits, woodpiles and building foundations. The males are lighter in color and much smaller than the females. The most identifying characteristic of the female is a bright red hourglass marking on the underside of the abdomen. Sometimes the female will consume the male after reproduction thus the name “black widow”. The female is about the size of a dime to nickel with the legs included. Black widows are a very shy spider. They do not typically seek out contact with others unless their harborage point is disturbed or protecting their egg sacs. Although the males can bite their venom is not of concerns to humans. Black widows venom contain latrotoxin which is a strong neurotoxin that affects the nervous system. The bite can cause serious distress, muscle cramps and excessive sweating. Although the bites are very uncomfortable serious illness or hospitalizations are rare. Control can be achieved by eliminating their harborage points and residual insecticides to keep their population at bay. Another very common spider that manner people confuse with the brown recluse spider is the wolf spider. The wolf spider is a dark spider that resembles the brown recluse slightly. Wolf spiders are around the same size as the brown recluse but are stockier and have a “hairy” appearance. On the cephalothorax they have two black bands with a brown line in the middle. Like the brown recluse spider it also does not use a web to capture its prey. It is an ambush predator and hunts other insects as well as the brown recluse spider. Many people ask the best way to control them and my answer is that control can be achieved in the same manner we control other spider species. However, wolf spiders are usually place in the beneficial category as they act as “normal” pest control. Fortunately, their bite is not toxic and usually mild in nature. The common house spider is another arachnid that you will commonly encounter in the Evansville, Paducah and Owensboro area. House spiders are the main reason for the many cobwebs we see in our homes. They are a very small spider, usually smaller than a dime including their legs. These spiders typically build their webs in the corner of walls, windows and door openings. They prefer dark moist areas like basement and crawlspaces away from disturbance. House spiders typically abandon most of the webs to build new ones which makes an infestation appear more severe than it actually is. The house spider is not aggressive and its bite is not harmful to humans. Although a beneficial spider due to its nature to prey on other insects it can be quite annoying with its excessive web building.

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In the Evansville area we commonly deal with house mouse. The house mouse is a grey to red ,small rodent which as the name implies lives in very close proximity to humans. The house mouse is also very adaptable in an urban setting. Often homeowners will find the house mouse in the walls of the home infesting areas around insulation and electrical wire conduit. We find that it is a very common rodent species in our Paducah, Owensboro and Evansville markets. These mice can contaminate food stores, unsealed food and general areas where they urinate. Being very small they only need to width of a dime to enter homes. Areas that are not properly sealed around vents, windows and doors are common entry points and need to be sealed up properly before fall begins as these rodents will start to enter indoors as the weather cools. Other likely areas for entry would be pipe accesses from plumbing, gas or air conditioning pipes penetrating the foundations. Steel wool is your best defense from allowing entry at these areas as rodents can’t easily chew through this material.

Recently a story out of an Ohio airport reported that a plane had to be evacuated due to a massive bed bug infestation with passengers reporting finding bed bugs aggressively crawling on them. Even though I have treated passenger planes on rare occasions here in Evansville I have never seen an infestation as described by the passengers. How did this happen and how might they have gotten this severe where no one noticed before? Well, there are several possibilities. Although it is possible that someone introduced large quantities while on the plane there is no evidence to support this. We know this happens occasionally as a case similar to this occurred in 2020 in Pennsylvania. A young man was caught with bed bugs in pill bottles at a men’s clothing store. Unfortunately, he had already released several hundred before he was caught causing the store to spend thousands of dollars on treatments to rid the store of the infestation. The most likely scenario on the plane was that the infestation had just been ignored for way too long. Bedbugs do not commonly occupy open areas during initial infestations but as the infestation grows seeing them foraging for a blood meal out in the open is common. Normally, during the initial infestation, especially the ones we encounter in the Paducah, Owensboro and Evansville “mystery” bites are the most common thing we get called out for. As the infestation grows in homes people may see bedbugs around couches and beds. If it continues further without proper treatment a situation occurs where “traumatic” insemination begins to push the females away from the most common harborage points. This occurs because over time the male sexual organ has evolved into more of a spike that it’s original design. The male uses this to inject semen directly into the females abdomen which caused them to disperse. So, imagine if it sometimes takes several days, weeks or months or recognize what you have in your own home, how long it would take staff to discover an infestation in which it is common to have different crews on a daily basis. So, what are the consequences of these major infestations of airplanes or any public transportation for that matter. First of all, this is a major “super” spreader event. Each person who was a passenger on this plane has to potential to infest their own home, the homes and workplaces of anyone they closely encounter in the airport, infest the home of the individuals picking them up as well as the homes of the ride services they chose to get to their final destination. Bedbugs are the ultimate hitchhiker. They have a crawl like hook very similar to what a tick possesses. They use this device to latch on to you as you make contact with their resting area. I do not have any knowledge of protocols being used in our Paducah, Owensboro and Evansville airports but some major carriers have very specific protocols involving the prevention and control of infestations on an airline. Firstly, when a bedbug infestation is suspected many carriers take the plane out of service immediately and complete a top to bottom inspection to determine the cause of the complaint. If an infestation is confirmed then a treatment is performed to eliminate the infestation. One thing to remember is that I have found that no airline has in their protocol to contact you if bedbugs were confirmed on a flight that you had taken. So, you can bring them home and never have any knowledge that there was a problem. As I always do, I recommend immediately placing clothes in the dryer that you took on your trip as bedbugs commonly infest suitcases and clothing as you travel. So, back to the original question, are bedbugs making a resurgence? It seems this may be the case. This year our Paducah, Owensboro and Evansville branches reported a 19% increase in bed bug infestation. Nationwide, infestations on airlines are becoming more common. In the early 2010’s when bedbugs were making their big comeback after years of being a non-issue planes were one of the first places we began to hear of their continued existence. It is looking like history is repeating itself.

Commonly when the weather starts to cool many insects and rodents in Evansville begin to make their journey to shelter to survive the winter. In the wild, that may be a hollow tree, bark of a tree, leaf litter or other type of natural shelter.

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Bed bugs are small, parasitic blood feeding insects that can a comfortable home into a very unpleasant residence. Although they are not known to transmit diseases to people, their bites can cause itching and irritation, and an infestation can be difficult to correct without a complete application. However, in larger infestations the problem can cause open wounds due to scratching that can become infected. What are Bed Bugs? Bed bugs are small, dark brown insects that feed on blood. Adult bed bugs are about the size of apple seed where younger bed bugs are about the size of a grape seed and lighter in color. They are compact insects, allowing them to hide in cracks and crevices that are about the width of a dime. Despite their name, bed bugs aren’t limited to beds. They can hide in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, couches, chairs, carpets, cracks and other areas where individuals might rest. How to Identify Them? Bed Bugs can be difficult to spot because they are good at concealing themselves. Most common indications of an infestation are: Blood stains on bedding and mattresss Small dark spots indicating bed bug droppings Small eggs or cast skins Active bedbugs around tufts in the mattress, couches, chairs and cracks and crevices Red bites that occur in lines Where do they originate from? Bed bugs are excellent travelers. Bedbugs have a claw like hook similar to a tick which makes them the ultimate hitchhiker. They can enter a home through luggage, clothing, used furniture, bedding, and other personal belongings. They may also spread between rooms or apartments through cracks and other openings as well as person to person. How do you eliminate bed bugs? A few steps to take reduce your exposure to bed bugs: Inspect used furniture before you place it into the home. Use caution when traveling- inspect head boards, mattresses and all hotel furnishing before removing your items from your suitcase. Carefully check contents of luggage when returning home. Keep rooms organized which will make inspection easier in case of infestation. If you are suspicious of an item treat it for bedbugs before you place it into your home What Do I Do if I Find Bedbugs? Don’t discard of your furniture. Moving the items around can spread the infestation and make the problem worse. Start by carefully inspecting the area where bedbugs were observed. Wash and dry bedding on the highest setting available. Vacuuming is a valuable tool in helping to control infestations but can’t eliminate bedbugs on its own. Bed bugs can conceal themselves in cracks and crevices. Professional pest management may be necessary if the infestations is well established. What to Do? Bed bugs are an unpleasant, but they are a manageable pest problem. Early detection makes treatment easier. If you suspect and problem, inspect carefully, avoid spreading potentially infested belongings and consider contacting a qualified pest control professional for an appropriate treatment plan. If you are experiencing a reoccurring bed bug problem it is likely that you are coming into contact with an infected person or infested item. The key is to act in an organized manner rather than relying on a single treatment for moving to another room. With careful inspection and the correct treatment protocol bed bugs can be eliminated. There are many types of treatments for bedbugs and all of them work to a certain extent depending on the level of infestation and the condition of the home being treated. Heat is a very common way to control bedbugs but it only has about an 80 percent success rate. High clutter and easy avenues to avoid heat impact the ability of heat treatments to be successful. Temperatures have to be maintained at a level of 140 degrees or higher for at least three hours to see optimum results. Uncontrolled heat applications that maintain heat at 150 degrees for higher can result in serious damage to furniture, wiring and belongings. Chemical applications tend to perform very well in small to medium infestations but are challenged by aggressive, more populated bed bug infestations. Cryogenic applications do an excellent job of killing bedbugs on contact but do very little in controlling hidden infestations and leave no chemical residual for long term control. Fumigation is likely the most reliable method. Performed at the proper dosage rate a variety of insects and rodents can be eliminated with fumigation. However, fumigation tends to be more expensive that other applications and leaves no residual as chemical applications will.

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