Male and female bed bugs require a blood meal between each of five nymphal stages. Once the blood feeding is complete, bed bugs retreat to their hiding spots to digest the blood. While most people don’t know they’re being bitten during blood feeding, bites can result in itchy welts caused by a reaction to bed bug saliva and this can cause discomfort for up to a week or more. The blood feeding process usually lasts three to 10 minutes. Once established, bed bugs will instead travel from a hiding spot 5-20 feet away to blood feed. Unlike ticks, bed bugs don’t attach themselves to a human host, but can be transported by humans in their belongings such as a coat, luggage or furniture.
Can Bed Bugs Hide on Your Body?īed bugs gravitate towards people who remain inactive (e.g., sleeping) long enough to provide a blood meal, though you don’t need to worry about where bed bugs hide on your body for long term periods. To minimize the risk of a bed bug infestation, consider taking precautions such as putting your purse on your lap instead of on the ground at an airport, and placing luggage in the bathroom on a hard, uncarpeted service in hotel rooms until you inspect the room for any potential signs of bed bug activity.
Some examples of other hiding spots include: Cushions in movie theaters and airplanes, seats in buses and cabs, chairs in break rooms, storage areas, offices or lounges with upholstered furniture. While bedrooms tend to harbor more bed bugs than other household locations, it should be noted that they can hide anywhere people tend to sleep or rest. Their flattened shape makes it easy for the parasites to quickly hide in cracks and crevices, including walls, wood floors, electrical outlets and other narrow spots inside and outside your home or other area. In between blood meals, bed bugs can also be found nearby on furniture, behind wallpaper and under the edge of carpet. Bed bugs are only attached to hosts' bodies during blood feeding. Evidence of where bed bug infestations may be found in a bed room include: bed frame, mattress and box spring. Let’s look at the most commonly asked questions about where bed bugs typically hide.īed bugs are nocturnal and mainly active at night, so what happens when the sun comes up? Bed bugs do not usually crawl for long distances and they don't have wings so they tend to stay near potential blood meal hosts.
Where bed bugs hide is related to blood meal host availability and blood feeding relies heavily on their ability to stay under cover until the opportunity arises. These insects are attracted to warmth, moisture from your body, and CO 2 and can detect these host seeking cues from approximately three feet away. Bed bugs live in a variety of environments associated with humans. Bed bugs can be attracted to many different warm-blooded vertebrate hosts (e.g., rodents, dogs, cats) however, humans are the preferred host. However, cluttered environments with multiple hiding places can make bed bug control more difficult. They don’t discriminate between clean/organized and dirty/messy environments, or public and personal spaces. The last thing anyone wants to think about are bed bugs hiding just out of plain sight, but it’s a reality.