Early detection of bed bugs on your mattress is crucial for elimination of the pests. If you wait too long, the bed bug colony could become established, making extermination costly and time-intensive. It is important to understand the signs of bed bugs to detect them early in their infestation process.
Bed bugs are a hardy foe and can be difficult to exterminate. They reproduce quickly; females typically can lay between one to three eggs in a day, which could calculate into 200 to 300 eggs in her lifetime. Once her eggs hatch (leaving the telltale eggshells behind), the nymphs need only a single blood meal before moving on to their next life stage.
Here are four early signs to make sure you get rid of the problem before it becomes more than just a nuisance.
Stink
Bed bugs communicate by secreting chemicals for other bugs to pick up on. It is a very faint scent, so if the mattress(es) or surrounding area stinks, you’re probably dealing with an established colony of bed bugs. Rely on other early signs of bed bugs on mattresses – like shells, smears, or live bugs – if you want to catch them sooner rather than later.
Stains
Bed bugs shed their shells a couple of times of years in five out of their six life stages. When the shells have been shed, they smear on mattress covers or sheets and look like rust stains or blood. Additionally, bed bug excrement will stain linens and upholstery, presenting as tar or dirt smears. Inspect stains carefully as the type of stain could be one of the earliest signs of a bed bug infestation. It’s important to catch bed bugs early so that they do not spread throughout your property.
Eggs and eggshells
Bed bug eggs and their shells are another sure sign that your property may be infested with bed bugs. Females lay seed-sized white eggs in the seams of furniture. If you find these clusters of eggs or the yellowy shells of hatched bed bug eggs, you are dealing with an infestation.
Live bugs
The incontrovertible early proof that you have a bed bug problem in a property is finding a live bug. Bed bugs are about the size and shape of an apple seed – five millimeters. They are brownish, wingless, and have flat oblong bodies. When they’ve been feeding, they swell up and turn bright red, and it may take them a few days to shrink back down again. A live bug is an early sign of bed bugs on your mattress(es).
Bed bug infestation is no laughing matter. It is a costly and time-consuming elimination process, so spotting bed bugs early on a mattress is crucial to saving yourself money, time, and stress.
One preemptive move is to purchase beds that are bed bug resistant, like those from ESS Universal. Early detection is key to mastering a bed bug problem before it has time to become a full-blown catastrophe.
ESS Universal manufactures and supplies high-quality, cost-effective commercial grade beds, mattresses, and furniture to camps, hostels, shelters, dorms and more. View our entire line of furniture products including our popular waterproof foam mattress for institutional use, single metal bed frames, single over single bunk beds, single over double bunk beds, and triple bunk beds. Download our catalog for detailed information on our complete product line.
