Comments on: Bed bugs in Seattle

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:41:38 +0000

Yes–what I hear from people is that you should be able to tell it is a bed bug, though it may not have legs attached.

By: James Buggles

James Buggles — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 01:40:34 +0000

Yes, I’ve seen that photo, but does every shed skin have the legs attached? That would be a dead giveaway, but in my experience with beetle larvae, roaches, etc., the legs aren’t usually attached to the skin (though it’s still easy to figure out that it’s an insect)

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:31:12 +0000

Actually, a cast skin looks a lot like a deflated bed bug. See photo of bug and cast skin (skin on right):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bedbug1.JPG

By: James Buggles

James Buggles — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:59:24 +0000

Most insect shed skin have a very insect-like look to them at least under a loupe — a pattern of some sort. Is the same true of bedbug skins or do they not have a pattern? If not, that’s why I feel they might resemble our own shed skin. I can spot small items no problem. It’s being able to figure out what it is.

By: Bugalina

Bugalina — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:12:34 +0000

Buggles..I found two shed skins…one was “sitting” in a hole in my white cotton eyelet bedskirt and directly next to it was as nobugs says a “hard” poop. The other shed skin I found was on the bedroom wooden floor. They are easy to miss as they are feather lite in weight and a very pale color.

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:20:54 +0000

Fedup,
Just to add to what you said– when I said, “there’s always poo” I do think there are always some fecal specks. But fecal smears, as you mention, are another story. I guess that depends, too, on the heat and humidity of the environment. Here in NYC it sounds like a lot of people more often find hard specks as opposed to the smears that look like ink.

I also think you are correct–when people say isolation of the bed does not work it is probably true in most cases that they have a frame containing bugs they can’t see, or a pillow or mattress that either is not fully encased, or which has gaps (eg small rips) allowing bed bugs out.

In a very few extreme and serious cases, the bugs are said to fall from the ceiling. But I think in most cases this does not happen and there are other explanations for the failure.

By: James Buggles

James Buggles — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 02:45:28 +0000

My theory is that sooner or later a bedbug is likely to make a mistake. Am I wrong? We humans make mistakes every day. But I guess bedbugs have less complex lives so they can really focus on the task at hand. Also, their mistakes get them killed.

It’s kind of ironic that you can find tons of bedbug photos, but very few photos of their shed skins and poop in real-life environments (i.e., light infestations). People probably miss these small signs every day. In that BBC video, he points to one shed skin on a bed. It looks like something that we ourselves might shed, especially those of us with dry skin.

By: Winston O. Buggy

Winston O. Buggy — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:49:02 +0000

The 48 hour treatment is a follow up of the initial service to hit any BB
which may have been flushed out. This can also be accomplished by vacuuming.
I don’t know of anyone with a regular 48 hour follow up and in some cases I
think you would be hard pressed to do much if you used dusts and a residual.
If on the other hand you only used contacts like steri-fab you may want to
follow up. However if a pest control company is doing this 48 hour follow up
I’m sure they charge for it a rightfully so as they are returning and treating
also keep in mind that some materials have a re treatment interval so again
they may be flushing with non residuals.
On another note inspections can be most difficult for reasons stated especially at
the early stages, it can also incur a liability issue on the part of the inspector.

By: Fedupandparanoid

Fedupandparanoid — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:34:14 +0000

I agree inspection can be so difficult in a ‘light’ or early infestation. I believe our headboard harboured bedbugs. There were very few fecal smears anywhere else in the room or on the bedframe and no obvious harbourage but there were more black smears concentrated on the headboard. This was wood and panelled and in the end we sawed it off, double bagged it in very heavy duty plastic and took it to the municipal dump. We caulked what was left. I do wonder if this may be why sometimes isolating the bed doesn’t seem to work. If bed bugs are in the headboard or deep in the frame then they don’t have to cross anything to get to you, you are isolated with them. People can really find it difficult to believe how tight a space these bugs can squeeze into (even I wouldn’t have thought of between sheets of plywood) My husband tended to say things like ‘they couldn’t get in there’ when it was actually quite a visible crack

By: parakeets

parakeets — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:41:36 +0000

This post had a lot of helpful reminders and instruction. I knew about bedbugs hiding in headboards. My headboard, inherited, was mahogany veneer over hardwood. I was told that bedbugs most likely were living in the thin space between the veneer and the hardboard so I decided to toss the headboard.

At the First International Bedbug Conference in Herndon, VA, last year, some very experienced PCOs said they inspected one bedroom for hours, knowing the room had bedbugs, yet they were absolutely unable to find them. This was a team of bedbug experts going over just one room with a fine-tooth comb, so to speak, for hours. (Mixed metaphors since the “fine-tooth comb” is for another bug). Since bedbugs can slip into a crack small enough that you can slide a business card into it, I don’t know if “inspection” works with the lesser infestations. Sometimes we see the photos and think we’ll see bugs and fecal stains on the edges of the mattress like in the photo, but it isn’t always the case.