Should you be worried about bed bugs throughout the winter or can you ignore them? Do you need to be worried in the spring when the weather warms up? Do bed bugs hibernate like some other insects do? Looking for signs of bed bugs might not be at the forefront of your mind during the majority of the year, but some of these questions and more might arise if you are dealing with an infestation in the springtime. We’ll go over signs of bed bugs, their appearance, habitats, and behaviors so we can understand if bed bugs are normally active in the spring.
Bed Bug Appearance
At first glance, bed bugs can very easily be confused with any other insect. They are usually brown or reddish-brown in color, so they can easily get mixed in with objects and become difficult to find. Bed bugs are very small and are often compared to the size of an apple seed. Imagine how difficult and inconvenient it would be to find an apple seed that fell between your couch cushions. This is the type of place where bed bugs love to hide, because of how difficult and inconvenient it is to find them there.
After a feeding session, bed bugs will often swell in size and become more red in color from the blood they collected. Most of the time they will be clustered together with other bed bugs, so very rarely will you find a lone bed bug off on its own.
Bed Bug Habitat
Bed bugs prefer dark places, wherever it might be. This is why you will often find them hiding and tucked away in places that are hard to find and reach. Signs of bed bugs can be found all over the world in different environments, meaning they are almost as adaptable as humans are. Signs of bed bugs are found pretty much anywhere humans can be found, since they primarily feed off of human blood.
Signs of bed bugs are more likely to be found in areas that are shared by humans or areas that have a lot of human traffic as well. Human blood is the primary food source for bed bugs, and so they will follow their source of food wherever it goes. Places like hotels, nursing homes, and college dormitories are huge hot spots for bed bugs, as they can easily spread or hitch rides to different locations.
Bed Bug Behavior
As mentioned earlier, bed bugs will follow their source of food wherever it goes. Bed bugs prefer to feed on humans and animals when they are sleeping, and will actually adjust their sleeping schedule to be the opposite of yours, whether you sleep during the day or the night. While bed bugs cannot fly, they can jump very high and scurry quite fast, making it seem like they have the ability to fly. Again, they will most likely remain clustered together with other bed bugs, so if you do happen to find a lone bed bug or any other signs of bed bugs, make sure to follow them back to the source.
Bed Bug Activity
Since bed bugs are adaptable and follow humans wherever they go, bed bugs are active all year round. They may be less likely to venture out into the cold to travel, but they will continue to feed for as long as they have a source of food. While the weather may have some impact on their ability to travel, bed bugs do not hibernate and remain active during all seasons of the year.
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