Remove Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are oval, wingless insects that are rusty brown in colour and around 4 to 5 mm long when fully grown, which allows them to hide in narrow cracks and crevices.

They are blood-feeding insects that prefer to bite humans but will also feed on other warm-blooded animals. As their name suggests, bed bugs generally feed at night when people are in bed.

Bed bugs will hide (and lay eggs) in a variety of household objects close to where humans sleep such as mattresses, bed frames, furniture, behind skirting boards, loose wallpaper and floorboards, and in cracks and crevices of walls.

Bed bugs emerge at night to feed and then return to their hiding spot for the day to digest the blood meal.

Bed bugs will come out to feed during the day if they are particularly hungry.

Bed bug populations have grown worldwide, possibly due to changes in pesticide use, a lack of knowledge of bed bugs in the pest control industry, the second-hand furniture trade and increased international travel.

Increasing numbers of bed bug infestations have been reported in Australia, often in accommodation venues such as backpackers’ hostels and motels.

Bed bugs can be transported long distances in the seams of clothing, luggage, bedding and furniture.

Adult bugs are able to survive more than a year without a blood meal.