the essentials in brief
- Bed bugs bite, are 5-7 mm in size, reddish-brown, flat-oval, wingless, nocturnal and frequent Bugs in bed.
- White bugs in bed are 0.1-0.5 mm small mites that feed on scales, neither sting nor bite.
- Yellow-brown, 1-3.5 mm large fleas sting and can be recognized as jumping vermin in the bed.
What bugs are there in bed?
Two types of parasites make life hell for us as blood-sucking vermin in bed. A third type of pest is omnipresent throughout the house and prefers to colonize mattresses and bed linen. The more specifically you can identify the vermin, the more effective the countermeasures. The following overview summarizes how you can identify the three most common pests in bed:
also read
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| Identifying features | Bed bugs | Mites | Fleas |
|---|---|---|---|
| size | 5-7 mm | 0.1-0.5 mm | 1-3.5 mm |
| colour | brown, reddish-brown | White | yellowish, yellow-brown |
| body shape | flat, rounded | oval to elongated | laterally flattened |
| Symptoms | + Bite wounds | + Breathing problems | + Stitches |
| + red wheals | + Itching | + reddish papules | |
| + severe itching | + Allergies | + Itching | |
| Clues | + black droppings | + tiny fecal particles | + jumping fleas |
| + red blood stains | + Eggs, larvae in bed crevices | ||
| + Moulting residues | + dark feces pills | ||
| odor | repulsive, sweet | no smell | no smell |
Did you get the information in this table on the right track? Then please take a look at the pictures below. The images show a comparison of bed bugs, mites and fleas. You can read more detailed information with useful tips for a precise identification of the vermin in the following sections.
Recognize bed bugs
Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are nocturnal bloodsuckers and masters of camouflage. The crawling insects have a flat-oval body shape and move forward with 6 hairy legs. The parasites are activated by the body heat released from sleeping people and the exhaled CO2. In search of a blood meal, bed bugs leave their hiding place, crawl around on the skin and bite. The bed bug rarely hits a blood vessel immediately. As a result, the characteristic bug streets with bite wounds arranged in rows arise. Uncovered and covered areas of the body are affected:
- Neck, shoulders
- Face, neck
- poor
- legs
- Feet
Bed bug bites are not painful. However, the victims suffer from red swelling and itching the next day. If there are also 0.5-1 mm small excrement particles in the bed, under carpets or behind wallpaper, there are hardly any doubts about the bed bug infestation. Blood stains and moulting residues are additional indicators, but can also have other causes. If, on the other hand, you perceive a repulsive, sweet smell in the bedroom, there is immediate need for action. Bed bugs stink to heaven. The larger the population, the more bestial the smell.
Recognize mites
Dust mites are vanishingly small
White bugs in bed are mostly a population of house dust mites (Dermatophagoides). Use a magnifying glass to identify the pests. The white, tiny body is covered with bristles. A finely striped body shell can be seen under the bristles. Mites cavort in the highest concentration in mattresses and pillows. The feces as a determination aid also require a look through a strong magnifying glass. One gram of house dust can contain up to 250,000 such excrement particles.
Dust mites in bed do not sting or bite. Human skin flakes are on the menu of pests, which can be found in large quantities in mattresses, pillows and duvets. When searching for food at night, there is direct skin contact with the involuntary human donor. For most people, this works out fine. Sometimes white bugs in bed have unpleasant consequences. Allergy sufferers suffer from asthma or dermatitis when they have to spend the whole night in the company of mites.
Recognize fleas
Does jumping vermin in bed rob you of a well-deserved sleep? Then you are dealing with fleas. The main suspect is the human flea (Pulex irritans) from the large family of fleas. Other candidates are the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) and the dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis). The blood-sucking parasites are characterized by their impressive bounce. The wingless bodies are equipped with strong hind legs that allow jumping distances of up to one meter.
A typical distinguishing feature is a robust exoskeleton. The yellowish-brown body wears armor made of shingled chitin plates. Because of this, you can rarely crush a flea between your fingers. Stinging bugs in bed are usually fleas because the parasites sting rather than bite like bed bugs do.
Where do bugs in bed come from?
The fight against bugs in bed becomes a vicious circle if you don't identify and eliminate the cause. In particular, you can avoid biting and stinging vermin if you know the following three most common causes:
Cause No. 1 - Willingness to travel
Bed bugs like to travel as stowaways
Bed bugs are not native to our regions, but are nonetheless widespread. The reason is the pronounced willingness to travel. Germany and China regularly compete head-to-head for the title of travel world champion. The downside of the coin is that returnees often have bed bugs in their luggage as stowaways. They have caught the beasts in hotels, holiday homes or sleeping cars. Bed bugs are often uninvited travel companions, especially for backpackers who sleep in a different place every night.
Cause # 2 - second-hand goods
Used furniture, antiquarian books, old carpets, and second-hand clothing are often contaminated by vermin. Fatally, fleas can go hungry for weeks and months without being harmed. Bed bugs can even do without a blood meal for up to 1.5 years. The parasites wait patiently until a carefree buyer takes the used goods home uncontrolled and without cleaning.
Cause # 3 - pets, bird nests, nesting boxes
Bugs jumping in bed are usually a souvenir from your pets. Cunning fleas use dogs and cats as a convenient means of transport into the house. People can catch the pests at the Gardening, because bird nests and nesting boxes are for bed bugs, Fleas and mites are popular retreats.
Tips
Frankfurt Airport is showing the way. For concerned travelers, trained noses are available on four legs to track down imported bed bugs. Upon request, dog handler Larry Hudson comes with his detection dog team. The specialists join forces to carefully search for suspicious items of luggage. In Berlin, pest controller Adam Tesmer has his terrier Taylor in tow, who shows the presence of bed bugs with an unerring instinct.
How can you fight bugs in bed?
Vacuuming significantly reduces the number of mites
Identifying vermin in bed is just the prologue for effective control. Have you exposed the culprits who are robbing you of your sleep? Then specific methods are available to you as a counter-offensive. The following table provides an overview of how you can successfully control bed bugs, mites and fleas:
| Bed bugs | Mites | Fleas |
|---|---|---|
| Exterminator | Ventilation | Sucking with a HEPA filter |
| Heat (50 ° Celsius) | Wash at 60 ° Celsius | Wash with washing powder, salt, vinegar |
| Cold (-18 ° Celsius) | Freeze pillow | Clean the mattress with a steam cleaner |
| Sucking with a HEPA filter | Treat pets | |
| Treat the mattress with a steam cleaner | Set up a flea trap | |
| New mattress every 7 years | ||
| Waterbed |
The control measures mentioned deliberately avoid the use of pesticides of any kind. A chemical spray against vermin in the immediate living environment harbors health risks for you and your family that go far beyond redness, swelling and itching.
Digression
Bed bugs do not transmit disease
Fight bed bugs
If the infestation is severe, an exterminator should be called
Have you been able to identify bed bugs as bugs in bed? Then you are dealing with die-hard opponents. The experts from the Federal Environment Agency urgently advise against private experiments with home remedies or pesticides. Renowned researchers have found that bed bugs are now resistant to numerous commercially available insecticides. To make matters worse, the innumerable eggs in your bed cannot be destroyed by any known means. In the face of such a stubborn squadron, laypeople are at a loss.
In an emergency, please contact a certified pest controller or exterminator. The professionals use a sophisticated combination process to combat bed bugs. With the help of a special device, the room temperature in the bedroom is heated to up to 55 ° Celsius. The metabolism of bed bugs collapses at temperatures as low as 45 ° Celsius and the vermin die.
Areas in the bedroom that are difficult to heat, such as carpets, laminate or PVC, are first heated to 35 ° Celsius in order to mobilize hidden bed bugs. This trick uses the reflex mechanism with which the vermin reacts to moderate increases in temperature because it scents a human blood donor. Instead of a blood meal, however, the exterminator waits in front of the hiding place with a special spray that is deadly on bed bugs.
The downside of the coin is that the hidden eggs cannot be destroyed with the combination process. It is therefore necessary to wait some time until the larvae hatch and the control can be used again. This is the reason why vermin extermination in bed can take many weeks and months.
Support professional pest control
With effective immediate measures, those affected by a bed bug plague can help professionals fight it. This makes sense because in this way you are helping to reduce the use of insecticides and eliminate the plague more quickly. The experts from the Federal Environment Agency recommend the following methods, among others, in an extensive flyer:
- Freeze: freeze infected objects for 3 days at -18 ° Celsius
- Warm up: Put contaminated mattresses, pillows and bed linen in the sauna for 1 hour at 50 ° Celsius
- Suck: Vacuum bed bugs, close bags tightly, freeze for 24 hours and dispose of
It is important to note that you do not bring any objects from the bedroom into neighboring rooms. In this way, you worsen the bedbug infestation because the bugs can spread explosively there.
Fighting mites in bed
Regular airing reduces house mites in bed
Fresh air is an abomination to mites in bed. Daily ventilation is therefore a must if you want to get rid of the vermin. The bed may only be made after it has been aired so that any moisture that has accumulated during the night can escape. The following measures have proven themselves in practice if you want to fight the small vermin in bed without using toxic spray:
- Make fresh bed sheets regularly
- Wash used bed linen at 60 °
- Just uncover the bed in the morning, ventilate it well, then shake it up
- Wash decorative pillows, cuddly toys or put them in the freezer
- Vacuum the bedroom daily with a vacuum cleaner and particulate filter (HEPA filter)
If the mites get too restless in bed linen and pillows, the pests pull back into the mattress. To get rid of the rabble here, you can have the mattress cleaned every three months. Of course, this measure only curbs mite infestation. Experts assume that after five to seven years a maximum level of up to 1.5 million mites is reached in a mattress, which makes replacement advisable. You can solve the problem more effectively and ultimately cheaper with a waterbed.
Getting rid of fleas in bed
Identifying jumping vermin in bed as fleas can be done in a few minutes. The procedure to combat the bloodsuckers successfully and without chemicals takes much longer. The table above lists tried and tested methods that you should apply in a meaningful sequence of steps and at short time intervals. How to get rid of fleas in bed:
- Mix washing powder with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 good dash of vinegar
- Peel off bed linen and wash at 60 ° with the washing powder mixture
- Take the mattress out of the bed and treat it with a steam cleaner
- Bed frames, rugs, floors, walls and curtains vacuum with a vacuum cleaner
- Take the vacuum cleaner bag out of the device, tie it tightly, freeze it overnight and dispose of it in the residual waste bin
Repeat this process every 3 to 5 days for a period of 8 weeks. Such a long period of time ensures that the larvae hatch from existing eggs and are captured by the control.
Supportive measures
Do you share your life with a dog or a cat? Then you probably owe the blood-sucking bedfellows to your four-legged friend. In addition to combating vermin in bed, you should therefore treat your pet with an anti-flea product from the veterinarian. Please wash dog and cat blankets every few days with the mixture of washing powder, salt and vinegar.
A flea trap serves as a control instrument and at the same time reduces the infestation pressure. You can build the trap yourself. To do this, fill a shallow bowl with water, add one to two tablespoons of dish soap and stir the liquid. Place the bowl on the floor next to your bed and point a lamp on it. The fleas are attracted to the light, hop into the trap and sink because the detergent has reduced the surface tension of the water. Experience has shown that lamps with a yellow-green light source attract significantly more vermin.
frequently asked Questions
How do you spot bugs in bed?
Itching in the morning may be caused by vermin
Bite marks, stings and itching are the first signs of bugs in bed. Since bed bugs and the like are nocturnal, you will seldom catch the pests in the act. You can identify an infestation by carefully inspecting your bed and bedroom. Look out for dung crumbs, red blood stains, tiny scales, and tiny eggs or cream-colored larvae in any hidden, dark places.
Is there a bug spray in bed?
Insecticides against vermin in bed are available from specialist retailers in numerous variants. When used in bed and bedroom, the chemical and health-endangering components, some of which are unclear, must be taken into account. A bed bug spray, in particular, is only effective if it is sprayed directly onto the insects. Applying the expensive agent to hiding places, nests and walkways is unsuccessful, it just pollutes the air in the room. Furthermore, the eggs are immune to any spray.
How long will it take to clear my bed of bed bugs?
Combating a bed bug infestation usually requires several treatments at two-week intervals. Depending on the intensity of the infestation and your cooperation, it can take three to six months for your bed to be declared a bug-free zone.
What can I do to avoid bringing bed bugs into my bedroom when I'm on vacation?
When you arrive in your hotel room, you should never unpack your luggage in the immediate vicinity of your bed. Any bed bugs are just waiting to crawl into your suitcase. Keep your luggage tightly locked during your vacation. Check the bed and room regularly for signs of dropping crumbs or dead bugs in cracks. When you return home, ideally store your suitcases as far away as possible from the bedroom.
Are bugs in bed a sign of poor hygiene?
No. Infestation with vermin in bed is not directly related to cleanliness. Bed bugs get into the house through luggage, old furniture and junk. Mites are also present where there is daily cleaning and vacuuming. Annoying fleas cheekily invade living spaces, regardless of the hygienic condition.
Tips
Double-sided adhesive strips are a good tool if you want to identify bugs in bed. Attach adhesive strips to the bed frame, headboard and feet. On their nocturnal forays, the parasites stick and can be identified without any doubt.