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REGIONAL PEST REPORT

Winter season

Pest threat

Mice are moving inside and other wildlife may be looking for potential harbourage areas. Cluster flies have hibernated in attics and wall voids. As the temperature fluctuates keep your eyes and ears open for the signs and sounds of unwanted pests this winter. Carpenter ant activity may be seen in the home where moisture is found on a warmer day.

 

Stay alert

Get more info on local pests

Bed Bug Inspection

Bed Bugs 101

bed-bug-photoWhat Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) are small, ectoparasitic insects. They are roughly the size of an apple seed and survive by feeding on the blood of people and other animals.

Why Are Bed Bugs Back?
Our entomologists tell us the resurgence of bed bugs is due to two likely factors; less toxic pesticides and the increase of international travel.

Bed Bugs are not a Sanitation issue.
Even the cleanest of places can fall victim to bed bugs and once inside they spread rapidly. Bed bugs are great hitch hikers and easily travel from place to place in someone's personal belongings or luggage.

Is there a risk of disease from Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs do not pose any health risks from communicable diseases but their saliva does contain proteins that can leave itchy red welts on some people.

Indications of Bed Bugs?
If you suspect bed bugs, or want to be proactive, look for live or dead bugs or the skins they can leave behind when they are molting. After feeding bed bugs will regularly leave behind small spots of reddish-black fecal matter on your bedding, mattress or box springs. They will lay their eggs (1/32" to 1/8" in size) in dark crevices near feeding areas.

Bedbugs - General Facts

Bedbugs are small, nocturnal, wingless insects belonging to the insect family of Cimicidae.  They feed on humans and other warm blooded animals. They are an oval shape and are up to 4-5mm long when fully grown. Adult bed bugs have a flattened body and their skin colour is either rust brown or a deeper red brown. Nymph bed bugs are clear or a yellowish colour and are generally 1-4mm long. Bed bugs have two antennae and six legs.

Bed bugs have been known to travel over 20 feet from hiding in order to feed but will generally hide within 3-6 feet of their host. 

Due to the flattened body of a bed bug they can easily hide in small places such as baseboards, cracks in floors, under carpets, behind loose wallpaper, bed frames, sofas, behind picture frames and many other places which makes them very difficult to detect. They tend to stay together and large infestations will give off a sweet but unpleasant smell.

Preventing Bed Bugs While Travelling
Can Bed Bugs Jump?
Life Stages of a Bed Bug
Bed Bug Bites
Informative Bed Bug Videos

Quick Facts & Tips

  • Bed bugs are nocturnal, feeding every few nights if a host is available.
  • Usually reside within 3-6 feet of their hosts.
  • Adult bed bugs  can crawl about 4 feet per minute while nymphs can travel about a foot per minute.
  • A complete feeding usually take between 3 and 10 minutes.
  • Bed bugs can live for extended periods without a blood meal, averaging a life span of 3-18 months depending on feed frequency and living conditions.
  • A life cycle, hatching from the egg to egg laying, is approximately 3-6 weeks.
  • A single female bed bug can lay 100-500 eggs during her lifetime. This means over a period of 6 months an untreated infestation can result in over 30,000 bed bugs.