If you notice small bite marks on your body, then this is the first sign that unwanted guests are living in your home. However, the variations can be countless: a whole variety of blood-sucking insects can live in the house - these are fleas, lice, ticks, and bedbugs. How can you guess who exactly bit you from this brethren? We will talk about the difference between bedbugs and lice in bedding.
Bed bugs
The first sign that there are bedbugs in the house are bite marks on your body and the bodies of your family members. However, many people have no visible reaction to bites due to their high immunity. In this case, you need to pay attention to other signs: for example, brown or tan stains on mattresses, discarded white or brown shells, as well as an unbearable almond smell near the bed and sleeping areas.
Bed bug bites also have their own characteristics:
- Bite marks are usually visible on the face, arms, legs and neck.
- Bites typically cause a swelling with a red center.
- The bite can be represented by a “pattern” of 2 or 3 points - this is how the mouth of these insects is designed.
- In some people, bites can cause allergic reactions, resulting in intense itching, pain and inflammation.
Bed bugs hide during the day and usually only come out at night to find food. So check your sleeping area for signs of the insect. Pests tend to hide in cracks and crevices around bedding, so visually inspect these areas. You should also vacuum and thoroughly wash the entire house, discarding contaminated items.
Reproduction of bedbugs
Linen bugs are very fertile: once fertilized, the female is capable of laying eggs throughout her life. In a special “pocket” she stores seminal fluid, which she then uses as needed. During life, each female individual is capable of laying about three hundred eggs.
Interesting!
The role of males in the reproductive process is no less unique. The male's task is to puncture the chitinous surface to introduce seminal fluid. However, not only a female, but also another male, and even a larva can become his partner. When merging with a female, the seminal fluid is used for reproduction. If a male suddenly comes across, this will lead to an increase in his sperm count. Individuals who have experienced several such acts are called “alpha males.”
Where they hide
The larvae are born after 3-4 days from the moment of laying. Their body length does not exceed 1 mm. The growth process is accompanied by 5 molts, after each of which they increase in size by 1-2 mm. This takes about a month.
The breeding characteristics of bedbugs make it difficult to get rid of them.
Bed lice
Pediculosis is a common problem that causes people to experience itching on the scalp and other areas of the body. The most important similarity between lice and bedbugs is their distribution among people living in disadvantaged areas and in unsanitary conditions. Head lice are also popular among school-age children, as they can often come into close contact with infected children. Bed lice can even be found in luxury places, such as five-star hotels. And this is not the fault of the hotels at all - it is solely the fault of those who bring insects in their luggage.
Bed lice bites can cause skin irritation, with sensitive people experiencing red spots when bitten. Large numbers of lice can cause pain, fever, headaches and chills in humans.
Vital activity and bedbug bites?
A bedbug is an insect measuring from 2 to 10 mm. The parasite is quite nimble and moves quickly. In homes, bedbugs prefer to live in colonies; their favorite places are areas near the victim’s sleeping place. They are nocturnal and feed only in the dark.
They attack the victim around 3-5 am. By puncturing the skin, a special analgesic secretion is injected inside, and you do not feel pain. The bug looks for the place where the vessels are closest to the skin in order to provide itself with easier nutrition.
The parasite does not become satisfied in one bite, this is its peculiarity. Therefore, you can see several red spots arranged in a path on the skin. There is a distance of 1-2 cm between each bite, their number may vary. It has not been proven that bedbugs can be carriers of dangerous diseases, but the bite site is very itchy, inflamed, and allergic reactions appear. The person sleeps poorly, irritability and nervousness arise. Another feature of bedbugs is that their larvae also feed on blood.
Unlike adults, they do not have an anesthetic secretion, and their bites are very painful. A man tosses and turns in his sleep. At the slightest rustle, bedbugs quickly retreat to cover.
Difference between bed bugs and lice
- Bed bugs are larger than lice. It is easier to compare them with an apple seed, while the length of the body of a louse or nit is no more than 3 mm.
- Bed bugs leave behind characteristic signs: a specific almond smell, shed shells, traces of blood and feces. You can only notice lice if you comb your hair with a very fine comb.
- Bedbugs move from place to place thanks to hotels, buses, trains and other public places. Lice move through rapid reproduction.
- Lice and bedbug bites are also different. Bed bugs can leave bite marks on the face, arms, legs, back, chest, neck and other exposed areas of the body. Lice drink blood only on the scalp, groin area, etc.
- Bedbug bites do not lead to any diseases. While lice with severe infestation contribute to the occurrence of chills, fever, and pain.
- The best treatment for both insect bites is to completely get rid of these parasites. Pest control requires an integrated approach - general cleaning, throwing away contaminated items, treating contaminated areas with special means. In the case of lice, you should use a fine comb, treatments, lotions, shampoos - everything to kill the lice and the eggs and larvae they lay.
Ways of occurrence of bedbugs and habitats in the house
Without wings, the parasite cannot cover significant distances, this is obvious. But the flat structure of the body allows the small pest to literally seep through the smallest cracks. In multi-apartment buildings, bedbug specimens calmly move along ventilation shaft corridors, electrical wiring ducts, through sockets, panel joints, etc. | Read about finding bedbug nests...
These are the ways the insect spreads, but this is where bed bugs come from in a single apartment:
In a suitcase from travel/business trips. Staying overnight in contaminated hotels is especially at risk for lovers of the hot tropics. Even one randomly found female is capable of reproducing an entire colony in record time (one clutch contains 5-50 eggs daily!).
With used furniture. Those who want to save money on buying new interior items run the great risk of bringing bloodthirsty guests into the house in addition to a used chair, sofa or bed. Such savings can later turn into even greater expenses. Fighting bed bugs on your own is not always successful, and the services of professional exterminators are not cheap.
On clothes. It is enough to visit an infected apartment or stay overnight and receive a new guest in your own home in the folds of folded/hung clothes.
At night, linen bloodsuckers go out to “hunt”. And during the day they hide in secluded corners near the residents’ sleeping places:
- In the folds of upholstered furniture.
- In wallpaper joints.
- Under the mattresses.
- In bedside drawers.
- In cracks and baseboards.
- Under the paintings.
- On bookshelves.
- In curtains, sockets, etc.
A high level of adaptability allows the parasite to settle even in household appliances, especially those with wooden parts.
Lice in bed linen
Lice are usually treated by maintaining more careful personal hygiene, as well as regularly changing and washing underwear and bedding. All items, bed linen, and towels used by an infected person must be washed in hot water at a temperature of at least 55 degrees.
Medicines that kill lice are called pediculicides and can be used to treat lice. However, this is not always necessary, especially if you have washed your clothes and bedding and practice good personal hygiene. Pediculicides can be toxic to the human body, so you should be especially careful when using them.
Vital activity and flea bite?
Unlike bedbugs, fleas are smaller insects. Their body is dark brown. They also feed on blood, but only adults.
The larvae are content with skin remnants, dust, and food particles. They, like bedbugs, do not live on the body of their victim. Fleas bite mainly on the lower body and legs.
During a bite, a secretion is injected into the wound, which has an anticoagulant effect (prevents blood from clotting), but it does not have an analgesic effect. Therefore, a flea bite is easy to notice. At the place where the flea “dined”, the skin turns red, and the puncture site is visible. There may be slight swelling.
The itching is very strong, but you should not scratch the affected area to prevent infection from getting into the wound. The bites are located chaotically. Fleas live in floor cracks, under baseboards, joints of parquet and linoleum, in dusty dark corners.
Prevention measures
Lice usually occur in people who do not have the opportunity to change clothes and underwear on a regular basis. Good personal hygiene and washing bed linen at least once a week will be sufficient to prevent the spread of infection.
If there are lice in your home, for example, on a child, then it is worth remembering that the lice remain on the bed linen, so it is urgent to do a lot of washing. All personal belongings of the infected person must be placed in the drum of the washing machine, without adding other clothes and items. Lice will not have a chance to survive in hot water. After washing, the laundry must be treated thermally - with steam or iron.
External description of the bedbug
The bedbug tribe drinks blood, and this fact has a direct bearing on what bedbugs look like. With the arrival of saturation, the individual changes both in size and color intensity.
In a state of hunger, the bedbug has a flat body, which makes it practically impossible to grab onto it or crush it. This is a kind of protection of the parasite, what can you do, nature has taken care of the survival of those who are not too pleasant to humans. But a well-fed pest becomes swollen like a balloon and is capable of bursting under the weight of the human body. Bloody spots on bed linen are one of the signs of the presence of an insect in the apartment.
The size of linen bugs can reach 9 mm in length and 4 mm in width. A hungry parasite has a flat, round body shape, while a well-fed one is bloated and elongated, like a cockroach. Evolving, bedbugs lost their wings, and they also do not have the ability to jump.
Methods for removing bedbugs
Fighting bedbugs in the apartment.
To clean your home from insects, you need to carefully inspect all places of possible accumulation. Bedbugs prefer to settle next to humans.
- First of all, carefully consider the furniture and mattresses on which you sleep. Don't overlook the bedside tables.
- If you find suspicious places, carefully remove bedding, covers, and bedspreads. Place in the bag in the washing machine and wash everything at the highest possible temperature for the maximum permissible time. It’s good if the processing lasts at least an hour and a half.
- It is useful to thoroughly vacuum all surfaces infested with insects. Any debris that has accumulated in the dust bin should be removed very carefully immediately.
- Some bedding can last several hours in the freezer. Low temperatures also help kill insects.
- For lovers of more modern methods, we can recommend ultrasonic sources. There are devices on the market that produce ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves. According to users, the double action has a strong effect.
- If there are no small children in the family, you can safely use sprays and other chemicals against bedbugs. Carefully study the manufacturers' recommendations and, if necessary, consult with suppliers. If used correctly, the result will be quickly noticeable.
