Feeding Habits:
Bedbugs are generally active only at night, and their peak attack period is usually roughly an hour before local dawn. They will sometimes, however, attempt to feed at other times of day if food is near. Attracted by warmth and the presence of carbon dioxide, the bug pierces the skin of its host with two hollow tubes. With one tube, it injects its saliva, which contains anticoagulants and anesthetics. With the other, it withdraws the blood of its host. (Thanks to the anesthetics, when the host actually feels a ‘bite’ sensation, that is skin’s reaction to the bite, not the bite itself.) After feeding — a typical meal lasts about 5 minutes — the bug returns to its lair.
Although bedbugs can live for up to 18 months without a food source, they will not voluntarily abstain from food for that entire time; if a food source is available, they will usually seek food on a weekly basis. Many individuals erroneously associate bedbugs with filthy conditions. In truth, as mentioned above, they are attracted by exhaled carbon dioxide and not dirt, and feed off blood, not waste. They are found as often in immaculately clean locations as in poorly kept conditions. While bedbugs have been known to harbor pathogens in their bodies, including plague and hepatitis B, they have not been linked to the transmission of any disease and are not regarded as a medical threat.
As the leading bed bug exterminator in New Jersey servicing the counties of Ocean, Monmouth, Mercer, Middlesex and Burlington. Our bed bug treatment services provide a comprehensive system to effectively detect, eliminate, and prevent re-infestation. Unlike other New Jersey bed bug exterminator services, our professionals don’t rely on simple visual inspections. We have a specialized Bed Bug Detection system to find adult bed bugs, and utilize a combination of dry steam, non- chemical and chemical techniques to effectively exterminate the bugs. After treatment, we also install bed bug monitors around bed posts and will provide mattress encasements at an addition cost to prevent re-infestation.
Reproductive Habits:
Female bedbugs can lay up to five eggs in a day and 500 during a lifetime. The eggs are almost invisible to the naked eye and are a milky white tone in color. A few bedbug species make use of a mating plug, which a male inserts post-copulation. Effectively the male seals her vaginal opening upon withdrawal. This has a distinct evolutionary advantage as it prevents other males from mating with her. All bedbugs mate by traumatic insemination. Male bedbugs sometimes attempt to mate with other males and pierce the latter in the abdomen.
