History, life cycle and tips on managing bed bug problems. Created by David N. Gaines, Ph.D.

1. How to Sleep Tight,
and Not
Let the Bed Bugs Bite!
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
By: David N. Gaines, Ph.D.
VDH – Division of Environmental Epidemiology

2. Bed Bug History
Bed bugs have probably been a companion of humans
since the time of cave dwellers.
Bed bugs feed entirely on blood and prefer human blood,
but may also feed on poultry and other birds.
Bed bugs do their feeding at night when their sleeping
human hosts are easier & safer to feed on.
Bed bugs were a common household pest until the 1940s
when chemical pesticides were developed.
Bed bugs became rare in the 1960s and did not become a
problem again until recently.

3. Bed bugs show considerable resistance to the
pyrethroid insecticides that are now widely used.
Why Bed Bugs Have Returned
Changes in pest management strategies in the 1980s
Introduction of bed bugs into U.S. on the luggage of
foreign travelers, and re-infestation by native bugs.
We have a very mobile society that can carry the
bugs to all corners of the U.S.
Adoption of IPM strategies – e.g., targeted home cockroach and
ant control - less liquid insecticides sprayed around the home.
Introduction and use of pest specific baits instead of liquid
insecticides (bed bugs don’t eat cockroach or ant baits!).
Widespread reliance on pyrethroid insecticides for pest control.

4. Bed Bug Appearance
Adult bed bugs are oval shaped, flattened, and are about 1/4
to 3/8 of an inch long.
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.

5. Bed bugs go through an egg stage, and five nymph stages
before they become reproductive adults.
Each nymph stage must
have a full blood meal
before it can grow into
the next stage.
An adult female must
have a blood meal to
be able lay eggs & will
lay 5 - 20 eggs over
the period of a week
(at a rate of 2 - 3 eggs
per day).
She will then seek her
next blood meal.
The Bed Bug Life Cycle
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
nymph

6. Bed Bug Life Cycle
Bed bug development rates are temperature dependent
Development is faster in
warmer environments
and slower in colder
environments.
At typical household
temperatures (70 - 80°F)
bed bug eggs hatch in 6
to 10 days, and nymphs
take a meal and molt
every 5 to 8 days,
making development
time from egg to adult
31 days at 80°F and
50 days at 70°F.
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
nymph

7. A Bed Bug Life Necessity !
A harborage that is relatively close to a sleeping source of blood.
Bed bugs live as close as possible to beds or chairs that
are slept in.

8. Some Common Bed Bug Harborages
Along seams, folds and piping of
mattresses, upholstered furniture,
and between cushions.
In holes, cracks and crevices
found in bed frames, bedside
furniture, lamp bases, etc.

9. Other Common Bed Bug Harborages
Under picture frames.
Behind loose baseboards.
In electrical outlets and electrical appliances (e.g., clock
radio, lamp).
Behind peeling wallpaper.
Along curtain seams and in curtain rod fixtures.
In cracks and holes around window frames.
Under carpet edges.
In bureau and cabinet drawers.
Along the corner of the wall and ceiling above the bed.

10. 1. Brown or black fecal stains around a harborage.
Bed bugs take large blood meals and void digested blood in and
around their hiding place.
Photo by Dr. M. Potter – U. of Kentucky Photo by B. Ogg – UNL Extension, Lancaster Co.
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
Common Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation

11. Common Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
2. Eggs, egg cases and shed exoskeletons (skins)
from molted bugs
Bed bugs glue their eggs to items on or near a bed.

12. Common Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
2. Fecal stains and bug aggregations.

13. Common Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
2. Eggs, egg cases, bugs and fecal stains.

14. 4. Bed bug bites
A bed bug will move and
bite repeatedly until it
finds a good place to feed;
bites often appear in a line
or in a patch.
Bed bugs mostly bite exposed
areas of skin that are not covered
with clothing.
Other Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
Photo by Dr. Susan Jones – Ohio State U.
Photo from Fletcher et al. , 2002
3. Blood spots or stains on bedding (sheets)

15. 4. Bed bug bites
Bed bug bites may (rarely) cause
severe bullous “blister-like”
reactions in certain people.
Other Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
Photo by Leverkus et al., 2006.
Bites do not always serve as good evidence of a bed
bug infestation because:
a. anywhere from 30 % to 50% of Americans do not have
any noticeable reaction to bed bug bites, and
b. bites caused by some other insects (e.g. fleas) may
sometimes have a similar appearance.
Therefore, it is recommended that one find additional
evidence of an infestation before taking action.

16. Bed Bug Control in the Home
Bed bug infestations can be very difficult and
costly to eliminate and any control effort must
be very thorough because:
a. Bugs can hide in places (e.g., inside walls) that are easily
overlooked, and survive relatively long periods without eating.
b. Bugs and eggs can infest many parts of a room as well as
personal effects (e.g., books, artwork, electronic gadgets).
d. The more personal effects and clutter in a home, the greater
the control effort and cost will be.
c. Personal effects that cannot be laundered or treated with
insecticides must be heat treated or fumigated.

17. Bedroom Clutter: A Bed Bug’s Dream Habitat

18. Bed Bug Control in the Home
There are a number of different methods that can
be used in combination to treat an infested room.
Vacuuming - Removes live bugs, some eggs, and bug debris.
Steaming - Kills bugs and eggs on mattress, upholstered
furniture and along edges of carpet.
Room Heat Treatment – Kills bugs and eggs in furniture,
personal effects, and all areas of the room.
Application of Residual Insecticides – Applied along
wall edges, and in cracks, crevices, holes, electrical outlets or
wall voids to kill bugs and eggs and make treated areas un-
livable for bugs in the near future.
Heat treatment or Fumigation in Chamber – Kills
bugs and eggs on personal effects.
Laundering - Kills bed bugs on cloth items.

19. How Bed Bugs Come Into a Home
Bed bugs can be brought into a home when that home’s
residents visit and sleep in hotels or homes that are
infested with bugs.
During the night, resident bed bugs may lay eggs on the
visitor’s clothing, shoes, suitcase, backpack or other
personal items. These eggs get transported back to the
visitor’s home where they hatch.
Bed bugs can also climb into the visitor’s suitcase,
backpack, or coat and be transported back to the
visitor’s home.
1. Travel-related infestations

20. How Bed Bugs Come Into a Home
Bed bugs and their eggs can come into a home in used
mattresses or furniture that have been purchased or
found.
Bug eggs may also be on used books or other items
purchased at yard sales.
Bed bugs can easily move through cracks in walls, or
along wire conduits and pipes from an infested
apartment into an un-infested apartment.
2. By traveling on previously owned objects
brought into the home
3. By crawling from adjacent apartments.

21. How to Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs Home
Use caution when bringing used objects into the
home by:
1. Knowing and trusting the source of the imported object.
2. Inspecting objects carefully for bed bug signs, and treating
objects before they come into the home.
Sterifab ® can be purchased and sprayed on mattresses, or
furniture upholstery to kill bugs and eggs.
Suspect objects should be cleaned thoroughly, and/or treated
with insecticides or heat.
Objects can be bagged and sealed with a NoPest® Strip and
left for a few weeks before use.
Objects can be bagged and sealed and left in a hot car (i.e.,
parked in the sun) for a week or two.

22. a. Carefully inspect any room where you sleep; carry a small
flashlight to help with this process.
How to Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs or Their
Eggs Home When Traveling Overnight

23. How to Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs Home
When Traveling Overnight
b. Do not place clothes in dresser drawers, on the floor or
anywhere near the bed; keep them in the suitcase or hang
them on hangers if necessary.
c. Do not keep suitcase, bag or backpack on bed or furniture;
place them on a baggage stand away from the bed and any
walls.
d. Do not place shoes under bed; place them in the open or on
the luggage rack.

24. How Long does it take Before a Bed
bug Infestation Becomes Evident?
When bed bug eggs have been brought into a home that is kept at
70°F, it may be about 50 days before the bugs become
reproductive adults.
Assuming that both male and female adults are present, it may be
about another month before the offspring of these bugs
become numerous enough to be noticed.
If no one in the house reacts to bed bug bites, another month may
pass before the infestation becomes readily evident to a casual
observer.
Bed bug eggs are more likely to be the source of a new
infestation (in free standing homes) because of their small
size and greater chance of surviving transportation.

25. How to Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs Home
When Traveling Overnight
If you have slept or stayed in a hotel/motel or
house that had signs of bed bugs, or was
suspect, you should:
a. Remove all clothes from travel bags as soon as you get home,
bag them (in trash bags) and take them directly to the laundry
for washing and drying on high heat
b. Hard cover suitcases can be bagged with a NoPest® strip and
stored until next use.
c. Back packs or soft travel bags can be tumble dried on heat for
½ hour to kill any eggs or bugs present.

26. Bed Bug Introductions at
Public School Facilities
Students whose homes are infested with bugs may bring
bed bugs into schools on their personal belongings.
Eggs could have been laid on the child’s clothing, shoes,
backpack, books, or other personal items and brought to
the facility where they hatch.
Student-borne bug introductions
Bed bug survival in a school environment is highly unlikely
because bugs would not have a chance to feed on people
in that active daytime environment.
Bed bug survival in school environment ?
Without blood-meals, immature bugs cannot grow into
adults, and mated adults cannot lay eggs.

27. Bugs may be carried to school in a student’s backpack or
coat and move from there to another person’s coat or
bag and end up in a new home.
Bugs may hide in a library book, or eggs could be laid on
that book in one student’s home and that book may end
up in another student’s home.
Bug transferal from student to student or staff
Chance of transferred bed bugs starting a colony in
other student’s home
Only mated adult female bugs can lay eggs, so multiple
immature male and female bugs, or a mated adult female
bug would have to be transferred.
Bed Bug Introductions at
Public School Facilities

28. Bed Bug Introductions at
Public School Facilities
Chance of transferred bed bugs starting a colony in
other student’s home
Successful infestation of a new home might be more likely
on an egg infested library book because there may be
multiple eggs that hatch into male and female bugs
which may eventually grow up and mate.
As transportation of bed bugs in coats and bags is
hazardous to the bugs, and it is unlikely that more than
one bug would transfer to another student’s coat or bag,
that student is unlikely to carry more than one bug
home and chances are low that it would be a mature,
mated female bug.

29. Suggestions for Bed Bug Prevention
at Public School Facilities
1. Students from infested homes should store their bags and
coats in a sealable plastic container while in school,
until home infestation is resolved.
2. Schools can purchase a clothes dryer to heat-treat a
student’s coat or bag while they are at school; clothes
dryers with drying racks can be used to heat-treat items
that cannot be tumbled.
3. Librarians should carefully inspect all returned books for
signs of bed bugs.
4. School libraries may also purchase a small heat-treatment
chamber to de-infest suspect books that have been
returned.

30. Acknowledgements
Dr. Dini Miller, Ph.D. - Virginia Tech Department of Entomology,
Urban Entomology Laboratory.
Dr. Linn Haramis, Ph.D. - Illinois State Public Health
Entomologist, Illinois Dept. of Health

31. Questions?