Bed bugs

Bed bugs are everywhere, across the planet and all up and down the East Coast from New York to Florida. In fact, Antarctica is the only continent on the planet where the parasitic pests are not present. In the United States, bed bugs are on the rise.

Bed bugs are insects of the cimcid family. They are small, brown-colored creatures that feast on blood. Warm-blooded mammals and humans are their absolute favorites.

Although the pests were almost completely eliminated from the U.S. after World War II, bed bugs have made a strong comeback in recent years. Biting their victims in the night, bed bug infestations are the source of extensive stress and psychological trauma for many Americans every year.

If you think that you have a bed bug problem, contact the bed bug control and prevention experts at Ehrlich by calling 1-800-837-5520 or filling in our online form to schedule a FREE initial bed bug inspection.

Ehrlich offers homeowners and business owners solutions designed to seek out bed bugs, find the infestation and provide the right solution to eliminate them.

From visual inspections performed by certified bed bug control experts to specially trained bed bug dogs, Ehrlich utilizes a variety of methods that will help track down bed bugs on your property.

Ehrlich has innovated methods of eliminating bed bugs that are environmentally friendly. In line with our commitment to providing greener pest control services, we are a GreenPro certified company.

We can apply heat treatments that reduce the need for chemical treatments while effectively eliminating bed bugs at all life stages.

Ehrlich Pest Control experts know how to identify where infestations occur and prevent future bed bug infestations.

Bed bugs want two things: to hide and to feed on blood. A bed bug’s anatomy is designed to do these two things. Here are some things that bed bugs do to feed and hide. 

Bed bugs have piercing and sucking mouthparts, evident at all life stages. The mouth part is very long and lays beneath their body, tucked into a special opening when not in use. The bed bug untucks its mouth, finds a spot to feed, pierces the skin and looks for a blood vessel. When it finishes eating, it tucks its mouth back in and goes off to find a place to hide. 

• A bed bug’s mouth parts are complicated. They have a part for sawing through the skin into a blood vessel and others for injecting an anesthetic and an anticoagulant so the victim does not feel the bite and the wound won’t clog to allow free blood flow into the bed bug. 
• A bed bug prefers to find hiding places and hates being out in the open. They want to be undisturbed as they digest their blood meal. 
• Bed bugs do not have to feed every night and can go several days between feedings. However, they do require a blood meal every time they advance into a new lifecycle and shed their skins. 
• Bed bugs cannot jump and they do not fly, but they are very good at crawling and getting into small spaces. If you have even a tiny crack in the wood around your bed, such as in the headboard, you could have bed bugs. 
• When the bed bug becomes engorged with blood it changes from the brownish color to a darker color since you can see the blood inside the insect as it digests. They also start out flat, but become more round the more blood they eat. 

Ehrlich bed bug control experts know how to identify them at all stages and our heat treatments and other methods can eliminate them at all stages, too.