Bed Bug Extermination Toronto

Bed bugs are tiny, oval-shaped parasitic insects that depend on humans and animals to host their blood meals. They infest areas where humans and other animals sleep. These nocturnal feeders thrive in darkness and dim lighting conditions, so you’re likely to get bitten when you are in a deep sleep. They are tough to spot with the naked eye, making it difficult to eradicate the problem through DIY treatments. When biting the host, these pests inject an anticoagulant that prevents the blood from clotting. As a result, bed bug bites can cause itching, skin inflammation and deep welts.

Bed bugs moult at various stages of their lives–up to five times before reaching adulthood. The discarded exoskeletons are clear.

You can identify a bed bug by specific physical characteristics.

Length: 4.5 mm.

Colour: Reddish brown.

Other features: The adults are wingless, possessing vestigial wing pads.

According to the Toronto bed bug registry, Canada generally struggles with only one species of bed bugs. Toronto registers the highest number of calls. Bed bug infestations are not always the result of having a dirty home. These pests often find their way into your home even if you have taken all the necessary precautions. They like to live in houses, condos, apartments, motels and hotels, and barns and buildings where warm-blooded animals live.

They have flat sides and can fit into really narrow spaces. They don’t nest like other insects, so while they’re not like ants and bees in that respect, they hide out together in groups. The best-case scenario for nesting is close to a host’s bed, and they like to hide in mattresses and box springs when they are not eating. However, large numbers of bed bugs in one place mean others might have to nest several yards away from the host’s bed.

Once they do get in, they multiply quickly and become a hard-to-eradicate menace. They quickly compromise the well-being of everyone inside the residence or workplace. Severe infestations may require you to dispose of bedding, sofas and other property.

The key to effective eradication is speed. Getting a professional on board as soon as you discover the problem can help you save furniture and belongings in the long run.

Bed bugs spend most of their time huddling together in cracks and crevices so they can stay unnoticed and so reproduce. Being nocturnal, most of their activity happens between midnight and 5 am. This optimal feeding time for bed bugs is also the time that humans are in their deepest sleep.

Bed bugs can travel several yards to find their human meal. They love the carbon dioxide produced by nighttime breathing. Body heat is another feature that attracts them. With their mouths, they seek a capillary space that will allow for the best blood flow. They often try several different spots before finding the optimal feeding space so that a human host might get several bites from the same bug. 

When the feeding site has been decided on, the entire process usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. After the meal is over, these insects generally find their way back to the crevice where the other bugs are resting. That’s the location where they will digest and excrete after their weekly feedings. Most of the time, they are digesting and not actively feeding.

According to research, the adult’s bed bug life span in a lab environment is around 300 days (Source). However, this does not account for their lifespan in a home or apartment, which could be slightly different and has not been tested. 

Starved insects die within 70 days, and the most likely reason is that these insects are dying from dehydration and not starvation. Since bed bugs only hydrate with a blood meal, dehydration is the number one killer of these bugs indoors. A microhabitat of just the right temperature and humidity allows them to get through periods where they don’t eat. Usually, bed bugs find their ideal habitat in crevices.

With conditions like favourable indoor room temperature, most nymphs develop in 5 days. If the moulted instar finds a meal within the first 24 hours, it remains in that stage for 5-8 days before it sheds again. If it cannot find food, it stays in an instar state until it eats or dies. Under the best conditions, the time through all five nymphal instars to adulthood is about 37 days.

The number of egg batches a female will produce depends on how many meals she can get– the more meals, the more eggs. A female can have about 5 to 20 eggs from one blood meal. Throughout her life, a female bed bug can produce 200 eggs. These eggs are laid in groups or just in singles. 

A female that wanders around can lay an egg almost anywhere. Under suitable conditions, the number of eggs that don’t survive is small and about 97% of the eggs hatch and live.

Room temperature, which is under 21℃, is best for bed bug eggs. 60% of the eggs hatch after six days, and by the time they are nine days old, 90% of them will have hatched.

The symptoms associated with bed bug bites are usually mild, and some people experience no symptoms at all. Exposed areas such as the face and neck and hands and arms are where these bites typically occur. People who are bitten most often complain of a red, itchy area on the skin resembling either a welt or a bump which can appear within minutes after a bite or even days later. Frequently, the bites are grouped in a clump on the skin or patterned along a line. The bites generally disappear within 7-14 days. Sometimes it’s difficult to determine a bed bug bite because it looks similar to other types of insect bites.

Finding black residue and dried-up bloodstains on bedding is a definite indication of a bed bug infestation. The bloodstains could result from a person rolling over and crushing an adult bed bug filled with blood after feeding, or the anticoagulant injected by one of these pests creates a continued blood flow after the meal. There is a likelihood of bed bugs if you notice any kind of bloodstain around your bed or even empty clear skins g.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the most effective way to get rid of bed bugs. IPM reasonably combines all the ways to maximize effectiveness, reduce the risk of exposure to pesticides and protect the environment.

Bed bugs are not known to spread diseases, but their bites can be a problem. While these bites are often painless, they can quickly develop into large itchy welts for some people. Others feel no reaction whatsoever. Most bites require no treatment and eventually disappear on their own, while others can become infected due to excessive scratching or cause allergic reactions. In extreme cases, it can lead to anaphylactic shocks. By far, psychological effects such as stress, anxiety, tiredness and depression from bed bugs in the home appear to be the primary health concern. Some people go so far as to use banned or excess amounts of pesticides that can be hazardous to health.

In most situations, we can offer same-day bed bug extermination services in Toronto. Call us today to check our availability at your location.

• Refrain from picking up used items off the street like upholstered furniture to bring into your home. The same applies to mattresses, box springs or bed frames. Click here to see where bed bugs like to nest.
• Do not buy used furniture from internet websites like Kijiji or alike. The seller may not be aware of bed bugs in this furniture.
• If you absolutely must buy used furniture from someone, inspect it thoroughly. Also, check where the used furniture is being picked up from on The Bed Bug Registry. This website will tell you if any bed bug reports were made at that location in the past.
• When travelling, avoid placing suitcases on the bed and floor and search bags and luggage before leaving.
• If you think you have been in contact with bed bugs, use the highest heat setting available to wash and dry clothing at once, or put these items aside in an airtight plastic bag. This may shrink your clothes, so avoid this by taking it to your local cleaner in Toronto like Love Your Leather Cleaning.
• Whether or not you have bed bugs, using caulk to seal up cracks and crevices will help to prevent these types of pests from finding their way into a townhome or apartment building.
• If you need to go into an infected place, wearing disposable foot coverings is a great idea.