What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals and have developed a very close relationship with people. Though bed bugs will happily feed on the blood of rodents, cats, dogs, and birds, if people are present, they will choose us. Human blood is their preferred food source!

Knowing what they look like is the best way to identify and get the professional help necessary to eliminate bed bugs for good. Below is a quick guide to help you identify these biting pests.

• Bed bugs grow to less than 1/4 of an inch in length.
• They have six legs and short antennae.
• Bed bugs are reddish-brown.
• Bed bugs tend to be flat and in the shape of an apple seed or lentil.
• After feeding, a bed bug's body expands into a more capsule-like shape. 
• Young bed bugs (nymphs) are almost translucent until their first blood meal turns them bright red.

Bed bugs are parasitic insects and rely on the blood of warm-blooded animals to survive. You will always find them where their hosts are, which is why they are so common in California homes and businesses.

Are bed bugs dangerous?

There is no evidence that bed bugs can transmit diseases to people during the feeding process. Still, they do other unsavory things like bite and feed on our blood, making them unwelcome into our California homes.

During their feeding process, bed bugs create small openings in our skin that allow bacteria to enter our bodies, causing a secondary infection. Many people also develop uncomfortable, itchy rashes after bed bug bites.

Bed bugs can affect a person's mental and physical health. People can only go so long sharing their home with biting bed bugs. Bed bug infestations cause restless, interrupted sleep, and days filled with worry.

Why do I have a bed bug problem?

Many people are confused about how bed bugs have become a problem in their homes. Many people think that only dirty or unkempt homes experience problems with bed bugs. But, the truth is that a bed bug infestation can happen to anyone.

Bed bugs are hitchhikers meaning that when you spend time in a place where there are bed bugs, they have the potential to crawl onto you or your belongings and move wherever you go next, including your home.

Hotels, laundry mats, airports, schools, movie theaters, and other places where people come and go in large numbers are often gathering places for bed bugs.

Where will I find bed bugs?

Bed bugs have flat bodies, giving them the ability to hide in very small places. When bed bugs are in a home, some of the most common areas to discover them hiding are in the seams of mattresses, behind baseboards, cracks in wooden furniture, and electrical outlets.

The bed bug's preferred hideouts make these pests challenging to spot, and it can take some time for a homeowner to notice their presence. Over time, bed bugs will travel throughout a home, infesting many rooms and becoming more difficult to eradicate.

Regularly inspecting the areas of your home where bed bugs are most likely to hang out with a flashlight is the best way to identify an infestation before it gets out of hand.