2 Places To Check When Inspecting Your Mattress For Bed Bugs
After waking up with a few red marks on your arms or legs, you may have dismissed the marks as mosquito or flea bites. However, if you have continued to see new bite marks that are either clustered together or are in a zigzag pattern every time you get up, you may begin to suspect that your home has bed bugs.
While bed bugs can be found anywhere, their favorite place to congregate is your mattress since it keeps them close to their main food source, which is you. Since bed bugs are often good at hiding, there are a couple of places where you can check for signs to confirm that you have the beginnings of an infestation.
1. Check under the Corner Rolls for Tiny Oval Specks Resembling White or Brown Seeds
One area that you should focus your attention on when inspecting your mattress for bed bugs is the underside of the corner rolls. This area provides a dark, hidden location in which the bed bugs feel safe to lay eggs and pupate to grow larger.
While examining these areas, look for tiny oval specks that resemble white or brown seeds, with the white specks being the eggs and brown being the pupal casings. If you find these, contact a professional as soon as possible.
2. Look at the Mattress's Surface under the Pillows for Reddish-brown Stains
Another area at which you should look is the surface of the mattress that lays underneath where your pillows are located. In this area, your neck, shoulders, and arms are accessible to the safe, dark cover provided by the pillows that the bugs prefer.
While looking at the surface, you may see small reddish-brown stains, which may be slightly raised from the surface. These stains are caused by the bed bugs' excrement, which is composed of the digested blood that they feed on during the night.
After finding evidence of the bugs in your mattress, such as eggs, casings, and stains, you should act quickly to kill them and prevent further spread of their numbers in your home if they have not already started to infest other areas. Because of their high survivability, you will need help with eradicating them, as do-it-yourself methods often do not work. Contact a residential pest control company in your area as soon as possible to have them fully inspect your home for bed bugs and talk about your options for killing and preventing them.
