Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite! Many of us grew up hearing that in an endearing tone as we were sent off to sleep peacefully at night.
Unfortunately, today there looms real risk of actually sleeping with these tiny insects.
With what started on the east coast is now sweeping the plains and hotels everywhere must take up active and regular bed bug control to combat the problem.
Read on for more information on this problem and how to check for it in your own home as well as on your next hotel stay.
Bed bugs are tiny insects that feed on human blood.
They are thought to be nocturnal because they come out during the night to feed, but this is typically when their food source is present in their hiding place.
These little insects feed every few days and their bites are only noticeable after they're done feeding.
The bites aren't painful, but they do tend to cause irritation and some itching.
Sufficient bed bug control, however indirectly through the use of general pest spray, had kept them at bay in the U.
S.
until the mid 1990's when significant numbers of them were brought from overseas into the hotels primarily in New York City.
The problem has since dispersed to other regions.
While most hotels do practice regular bed bug control, there are ways to immediately discern of your hotel room remains infested with them.
Entomologists recommend pulling the sheets back, including the mattress pad, to reveal the actual mattress.
This should be done at the headboard.
If you can see any amount of brown residue on this or any other portion of the mattress, it indicates the presence of the insects.
The residue is, in fact, the insects' feces.
You should then change rooms, or change hotels.
If by performing this check, you reveal an infestation in your own home, call your local exterminator to immediately begin a bed bug control program.
These little insects can live for long periods of time without feeding, so it's important to have a professional inspect the other areas of the room or check the whole house for evidence of additional insect presence.
They don't nest, or live only in mattresses, so you can't assume that treating your mattress or even buying a new one will eradicate the problem entirely.
For additional information on these sneaky little insects, perform a search online and call your local exterminator immediately if you suspect a problem in your own home.