Where do bed bugs come from?
They are often brought in as “travel souvenirs”. They crawl into suitcases or rucksacks and travel home as stowaways in their luggage.
Bed bugs can also hide in used furniture that you buy through classified ads or take away from bulky waste. The bloodsuckers have not always been brought into the apartment themselves: sometimes neighbors carry an infested sofa bed down the stairwell. Animals that fall out by chance then look for new hosts.
By the way
The problem has nothing to do with hygiene in the holiday accommodation: bed bugs lurk in alpine huts as well as in hotel suites.
And how do they make it into our bed?
The easiest way is via bedposts and bedside table legs. Bed bugs climb wood easily, but not smooth metal. They can also easily climb walls. Then they use mattresses, pillows or blankets that touch the wall as a bridge to bed. It can also happen that a bedbug falls from the ceiling into the bed.
Once in bed, they will settle and multiply as close to their host as possible. A single fertilized female can start a whole new population.
How can I recognize a bed bug infestation?
Sense. Dark spots, for example on the bed and around it, can be bug droppings. © Federal Environment Agency
Bed bugs can take a long time to be noticed. First of all, those affected often discover pustules on the skin – usually several next to each other, similar to fleas. Bed bugs often bite multiple times before encountering blood, leaving behind the typical “bug trail”. Some call them bed bug bites, but they are bites.
Another indication are shells under the bed or bedbug droppings on the sheet, the bed frame or on the wall: black dots that can be wiped away with a damp finger.
The flightless insects can usually be found in person at night. Adult bed bugs grow to be the size of small ladybugs. Their flat, rust-brown body is slightly transparent. When they have sucked blood, the digestive tract in the abdomen is black. If they are irritated or crushed, they secrete a secretion with an intense smell reminiscent of marzipan.
Tipp: Our table of pests tells you how to distinguish bed bugs from carpet beetles, bacon beetles and other crawling animals.
Are bed bug bites dangerous?
bug street. Bed bug bites are often found in rows or groups. © Getty Images
Not everyone reacts equally strongly to the bites. Over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream can relieve severe itching. More severe skin reactions, such as large hives, often require a doctor’s visit. Bed bugs probably don’t transmit diseases, but if you scratch itchy areas, you can introduce bacteria that can cause inflammation.
Where are the parasites hiding?
bed bug. It is flat and about 4 to 8 millimeters long when fully grown. © Alamy / Jeff March
They can lurk anywhere. Rule of thumb: the closer to the sleeping place, the better. Rule of thumb two: in hard rather than soft structures. Bed bugs find shelter in the slatted frame, in the bed frame, in cracks and gaps in other furniture such as bedside tables or chests of drawers, in the joints between the floorboards or behind the baseboard.
They fit behind tiny gaps in the wallpaper. They can hide in books, CD, DVD and record cases, in slippers, behind pictures and door frames, in electronic devices such as lamps or alarm clocks, in sockets, behind light switches and in drill holes that have been left open.
They tend not to stick in the bedding – it’s too soft for them. However, they may colonize the zipper of the duvet cover or slip between the seams of the mattress handles.
They usually only live further away from the bed or in soft places when the best places are occupied. Such a strong infestation would have been noticed beforehand.