Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Reader questions (do not fit into other categories)
Why do they travel away from the bedroom?
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Desparate
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 19
Posted 8 months ago
Thu Jul 9 2009 12:52:34
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We have found one in the hall and we found one in the bathtub. Why would they not stay close to the blood source which is the bed?
We don't see many - perhaps a total of 10 in four months. But only a few have been adjacent to the bed. We also have never seen any in the bed.
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,259
Posted 8 months ago
Thu Jul 9 2009 13:22:52
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No one knows for sure. Some entomologists have a theory that there's some instinctual tendency for a few bed bugs to head out away from the colony on their own. (From an evolutionary perspective, that makes sense. If they all lived together and stayed where they were, at some point, there would be more of them than their hosts could support, right?)
I don't know if you're familiar with one way that female bed bugs get inseminated, but it's called traumatic insemination. I'll let you develop your own mental picture of that. If I were a female bed bug and that happened to me, I'd probably be inclined to hie off into the wild after that too. Of course, if it is an inseminated female who takes off, then there's a good chance she'll be starting a whole new colony.
Some chemical insecticides have a repellent effect on bed bugs. It's one of the reasons that self-treatment of bed bugs isn't recommended--because spraying certain chemicals will cause the bugs to run away from them, dispersing the infestation and making it harder to treat.
I also don't remember if you're in a single family home or not, but if you aren't, it's possible you're seeing stragglers migrating away from a neighboring unit.
Remember, since people thought bed bugs were eliminated for decades, there was very little research being done on them for decades on end. As a result, unlike say ants and roaches, insects we've been studying all along, we're a few decades behind on some of that behavioral research. And bed bugs are much stealthier than many other pests. (I mean, if you've got a wasp nest in your home, chances are you know about it.) That also makes them harder to study. As a result, there's a lot we don't know. Some entomologists have some theories, but I haven't seen anything conclusive and universally agreed upon that can answer your question.
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DragonFlight
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Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 233
Posted 8 months ago
Fri Jul 10 2009 14:58:52
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We have found one in the hall and we found one in the bathtub. Why would they not stay close to the blood source which is the bed?
We don't see many - perhaps a total of 10 in four months. But only a few have been adjacent to the bed. We also have never seen any in the bed.
This is something very similar to what I had. Buggy's explanation sounds very logical as in there female bed bugs that want to be "single" again. I hope that they're inseminated for your sakes in which case if there not, I would find out where they are coming from fast. If you are not getting any bites and your not seeing any hiding except for wondering on the floor, you can still save yourself but you got to act fast and now, and as it appears there coming from another apartment so someone beside you has them.
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Desparate
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 19
Posted 8 months ago
Fri Jul 10 2009 23:34:09
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We are in a single family home. These are not the only ones that we have found and we have been bitten. We are working now on getting Thermal remediation for the house. I was just curious as to why they would move away from where we are - especially the bathtub out in the open in the daytime.
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DragonFlight
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Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 233
Posted 8 months ago
Sat Jul 11 2009 9:39:54
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I don't know myself, if those who deal with them on a daily basis only have suggestions or theories then it really is strange. There is one possibility I remember when they were coming from the rad and I was working in the same room since they can sense heat there in front of me was one crawling up the wall near where I was working, it was a female as well from what I found out but it was not pregnant, as with cockroaches there mannerism is different they run and hide from you as soon as you see them and there much more cigar shaped as I just saw one the other day, the bastard hid along the edge I couldn't kill it but anyway I was hoping you didn't get bites but since you have there still could be hope. Are there any in your bed ? Did you search ? Where did you get bit and how many times ? Check your bed because if there is a hole where there coming from which sounds identical to my situation while you're sleeping there coming out that is if there coming out of one of the rooms you sleep in.
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Desparate... are you absolutely sure they are bedbugs and not just batbugs or birdbugs?
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DragonFlight
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Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 233
Posted 8 months ago
Sat Jul 11 2009 10:56:54
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I'm sure what she is experiencing is bed bugs. Her situation sounds very identical to what mine was, and mine was bed bugs as it was directly told to me by the tenants who have them. Also she is getting bites.
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I'm sure what she is experiencing is bed bugs
Well, I'm not and I won't be sure until I'll see a pic... bedbugs and bird/batbugs look very similar to an untrained eye...
Last week I received a phone call from a girl. She said her attic was "invaded" by bedbugs, and she had a lot of bites.
I asked her if she was sure they were bedbugs, and she answered they were identical to nymphs pics in my site. Her home is not far from mine, so I ran there for an immediate inspection.
Really, there were a lot of little "nymph-like" crawling creatures wandering all around... but they were bird mites, not BBs.In a single family house you should have hundreds of BBs in four months, with a lot of signs and bites.
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Desparate
newbite
Joined: Jul '09
Posts: 19
Posted 8 months ago
Sat Jul 11 2009 15:54:46
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We had one PCO in for a quote and had one of the bugs dead in a bag. He identified it as a bedbug. He also took he bag with him when he left. There are no bats in this area and many years ago we had a problem with bird mites and these look nothing like the little specs that came in back then. We have since killed another and put it into a ziplock bag.
We have also wondered why we have not seen more - though in the past week sightings of single bugs are more frequent - though never more than one or two in a day. In the past week bitings increased - but we are now both covered from neck to toe at night and that has helped.
We are waiting for another PCO to call back who is a specialist in Thermal treatment.
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DragonFlight
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Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 233
Posted 8 months ago
Sat Jul 11 2009 18:55:57
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I did say she had bed bugs.
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