Bed Bug Ecology: Tips on How Not to Bring Them Home from Your Travels!

You may have heard a lot about "bed bugs". They are extremely troublesome pests that have plagued people for a long time. Although they had almost disappeared at one point, they are gradually making a comeback. Once they settle in, extermination is difficult! The most important thing is to avoid bringing them home in the first place.

Bed bugs are members of the stink bug family

Bed bugs are pests that feed on human blood.
Adults are 5–8 mm in size. In fact, they are members of the stink bug family.
They live around sleeping areas, and both larvae and adults, regardless of sex, feed on blood from humans and pets throughout their lives. Being bitten is very itchy and extremely unpleasant. They are nocturnal, hiding in crevices during the day and leaving behind black, stain-like fecal spots from their blood meals in the surrounding area.

Bed bugs love to travel

Bed bugs spread their distribution along with human movement. Bed bugs have no wings and their legs are not very strong, so they cannot travel long distances on their own. Instead, they travel the world by hitching a ride in travelers' luggage.
Please be very careful not to bring them home from your travels. At night, they may hide in small gaps, such as the handles or zippers of suitcases and bags!
Since their legs are not well-developed, they are not good at walking or climbing on smooth surfaces.If you are worried about bringing them home from a hotel, bed bugs do not live in bathrooms where the floors and walls are smooth, so a pro tip is to keep your suitcase or bag in the bathroom before you go to sleep.

Bed bugs bite the closest skin, such as wrists and ankles

It takes about 40 days for a bed bug to become an adult, and both adults and larvae feed on blood. Some adults can live for up to a year, and they are very resilient insects that can survive for several months even in a state of starvation.
Bed bugs are nocturnal. At night, they crawl out of their hiding places, are drawn to carbon dioxide, and bite the nearest skin. Therefore, areas such as the ankles and below, the forearms and below, and the neck are easily bitten. They do not go out of their way to crawl inside pajamas to bite or look for soft skin. If a person moves while they are biting, they may be startled and pull out their mouthparts to bite again, which can result in several bite marks in a row.
Note that there are currently no reports of bed bugs transmitting infectious diseases.

If you find black spots in the corners of your room, be careful.

During the day, they mainly hide in narrow spaces, such as gaps in tatami mats or beds in the bedroom, or corners of walls. Once it gets dark and everyone is asleep, they sneak out to feed on human blood. Their hiding places are characterized by being spotted with reddish-black feces mixed with blood.
Since they are members of the stink bug family, it is said that they emit a unique odor (though the author cannot really tell).

Once they settle in, extermination is extremely troublesome

Once bed bugs have settled into a room, extermination is extremely troublesome.
Bed bug nests are found in gaps between bed frames and mattresses, in bedroom walls or tatami mats, in gaps in furniture, around shoji screens, and between curtains and walls. Please thoroughly search for nests soiled with blood feces, carefully vacuum them up, and exterminate them by spraying enough insecticide (such as Cockroach Eliminator Spray or Cockroach Immobilizer Spray) directly onto them.

Please read the usage precautions carefully before using "Cockroach Eliminator Spray" and "Cockroach Immobilizer Spray".