Bed Bug Myths: Bed Bugs Feed Only at Nigh

Because bed bugs generally try to hide from humans, many people get the erroneous idea that they are nocturnal by nature. While bed bugs do tend to be most active after dark, this is because their prey (you) is asleep and stationary at night. Merely turning on a light will not send them scurrying or prevent them from biting you.

Bed bugs can also hide in places other than your bedroom. Couches and overstuffed chairs are provide them with cover as well. Because they inject a numbing agent into your skin when they bite it, bed bugs can feed on your during the day while you are simply watching television or during the day when you nap. They use your body heat and the carbon dioxide that you exhale to locate you whenever they need to feed on your blood.


Identification
• Eggs are pearly white and only 1mm long.
• First stage immature bugs are pale in color and somewhat translucent.
• Adults are roughly ¼" in length and reddish brown in color.
• Females can lay 3 - 7 eggs per day.
• Eggs hatch after 6 - 10 days.
• Bed bugs are mostly inactive between blood meals and can often be located in their hiding places.
• Bed bugs are very resilient and can survive up to a year without a blood meal.

Bed bugs prefer to hide close to where they feed, like beds, but have been documented to travel 100-150 feet to obtain a blood meal, so it is unlikely to diminish an infestation by leaving an area unoccupied.
Although they do not have nests, bed bugs gather in areas that can be marked by dark spotting and staining of dried excrement. Eggs, shells, brownish molted skins of nymphs and the bugs themselves will be present.

See More: What are the signs and symptoms of a bed bug infestation