Bedbugs were at one time a common pest of the slum and other poor properties, but were much reduced by higher standards of hygiene and the use of insecticide such as DDT from 1930s to 1980s. However, in recent years, there is a resurgence of bed bugs infestations globally. While the exact causes remain unclear, increases in international travel, resistance to pesticides and greater focus on the control of other pests may have played an active part. Infestations are common in apartment buildings, hotels & motels with rapid turnover of residents.
Adult bedbugs (5mm long) is oval, flattened, red- brown, without wings and can live several months up to a year without food. Bedbugs are nocturnal insects that feed at night and are not evident in the day, hiding in cracks, crevices, furniture, mattresses, bed frame, bed spring headboards etc. These harborages are also their breeding places with their eggs cemented to these surfaces, close to where the meal (blood) is.
The male, female and young nymphs all feed on blood. Responses to their bites vary, ranging from no visible effects to small, hard swelling, prominent wheals with intense itching that last several days for some. Severe infestations and chronic attacks often caused anxiety, stress and even insomnia to some individuals. Regarded by most with abhorrence but no evidence that bedbug is a carrier of disease.
A tell-tale sign of bedbug infestation is the unpleasant smell they emit from their stink glands. Another sign are the spots of their faecal deposits.