Bed bugs feed on blood. They prefer human blood, but if a human is not available, they will feed on pets or whatever warm blooded host is nearby. They are generally nocturnal (though not always), which means they feed on you at night. It takes a bed bug three to ten minutes to feed, depending on its size and maturity.
Once the bug has feasted, it crawls away to a hiding place to digest its meal. During the day, it stays hidden. Entomologists call this “cryptic” behavior, meaning the bed bug is attempting to remain concealed until it needs to feed again. When it looks for a host, it will go after whatever host it can find first. This is why sometimes bedbugs will infest only one bedroom in a house, or even just one side of a bed – they are just stopping at the first warm blooded host that they find in their search for food. Bed bugs are lazy parasites, so they prefer to hide close to their hosts. They seem to prefer fabric, wood or paper surfaces to hide in. They do not like metal or plastic because it is tough for them to climb. (Keep these little details in mind – we will be using the bed bugs own behavior against it in our plan to control the infestation). And they prefer dark areas that are protected. Which means that common hiding places for bed bugs are: In tufts and folds of you mattress Inside your box springs Hiding in crevices in the headboard Between the mattress and the box spring In, under or around your bed linens, comforters or pillows In the skirt around your bed On the floor under the bed In piles of fabric lying near your bed In the headboard of your bed, or in the nooks and crannies of your bed frame Around the wheels of the bed frame In cracks in the floor, or in the gap between the baseboards and the floor In your carpet or rug In your nightstand or table In the clock radio, lamp, white noise maker, fan or other appliances near the bed Inside light switches, electric plugs On the walls – behind pictures, posters, or behind peeling wall paper In picture frames In or around windows in the bedroom or near the bed In cracks in plaster In the molding along the ceiling In drapery and curtains In items stored under the bed In, under, or behind boxes in the bedroom In, under, or behind furniture, such as chairs, sofas, or bookshelves Inside bowls, books, knick-knacks and other small items near where you sleep In the drawers of your dresser, or in the clothing in those drawers In the closet In duffle bags, backpacks or suitcases
Because bed bugs are so small and flat (when not filled with your blood), they can hide in cracks as thin as your fingernail. So you have to be creative when looking for places they might hide – every home and every bedroom is different, so there an infinite number of variations for hiding places. Basically, look for dark, protected cracks and crevices in areas that are near where you sleep. Although bed bugs are not attracted by unhygienic conditions, a cluttered environment gives them plenty of places to hide. So if you have books and stacked in the bedroom, or clothing piled high in the corner, or a comforter thrown over a rocking chair, you are creating the kind of environment that bed bugs thrive in. Bed bugs don’t have a hive or colony like bees or ants, but they do tend to cluster together in favorite (in other words, easy) hiding places. And those hiding places are generally close to their food supply – you. If you find an area spotted with fecal stains, or dotted with egg shells, you have found a bed bug hiding place. Sometimes you can smell a sweet, buggy smell when the infestation is particularly bad. Bed bugs are tough and resilient. If they can’t find a host close by, they will travel to find one. This can turn a small infestation in an apartment building into a major-pain-the-ass infestation, as the bugs crawl from room to room in your home, or from apartment to apartment in your building. That’s how this problem spreads – hungry bed bugs, looking for a meal.
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