Understanding the hiding behavior of bedbugs

Bedbugs draw three mosquito like bites (skin may not react). Because of the large amount of blood taken they tend to hide close in someplace organic and stable, out of the light and thus digest the blood and make poop stains that they use the smell of to return quickly to their hideout. Bedbugs are by nature lazy and only via threat or removal of their scent do they tend to hide further from their hosts resting spot.

Threats to bedbugs are repellent smells (like fragrant oils and certain pesticides), ineffective heat treatment that doesn't go to the outside walls or surrounds all of them, steaming as it can't be done everywhere, Diatomaceous Earth as they learn about it and give off a alert scent to avoid it (works too slow). Lastly, if it's a location that they just can't hide in, like a mattress or box spring that's covered in thick plastic sheeting (to withstand wear) or if it's just not stable enough to leave a scent trail that they can follow once they got your blood, then they will tend to find a place further away to hide that is up to about 20 feet away and establish a new harborage there, out of the light, usually in organic substances. They poop there and that is the scent trail they use to go back in a hurry once they got your blood.

Unfortunately the repellent strategy (keeping them away until they starve to death) doesn't work well for bedbugs because they can live a long time (up to 1.5 years) without a blood meal as they can draw moisture out of the air, thus they will return or find a alternate method to get to their host as soon as the coast is clear, like living in and dropping off ceilings or they will spread out in a multi-unit to infect others. So instead a protect-the-hosts-from-bites + draw-them-in-to-cross-a-non-repellent-insecticide approach works extremely well, kills up to about 1200 dead bedbugs in a week if as much of the surface area of the floor (their main route if not covered in repellents) is covered with something not harmful to people or animals and insects can't detect it, thus keep crossing it like fools.

Now most people will wash and take a shower daily, changing their clothes, so the body and clothes doesn't provide a stable enough location for them to hide in for long. However they may hitchhike along if people pick them up at other locations in their clothes, like at work and in public places. It's because at work, usually no one sleeps there so bedbugs have to bite in the daylight and then get caught in clothes before they can run away to their scent established harborage.

Those who are in nursing homes, the handicapped, the homeless and so forth, may have bedbugs on their person or clothes because they are not washing and changing them enough, likely because it may not be necessary for cleaning purposes for some, but it is for bedbug purposes to remain clean personally to always have a procedure to get rid of any that are trapped in clothes.

The next place bedbugs will tend to hide is on any long term resting like furniture or something like items on the desk, around it or even in a desk themselves. It's because someone tends remain at that location for long periods thus giving the bugs time to sneak in a quick blood meal, sometimes right in the daylight if they are hungry enough. It's how people bring home bedbugs from workplaces.

So if someone is sitting attending a checkout counter at store for instance and not moving around enough, bedbugs could find them there and hide in things close by. It's the hosts resting spot that they are mainly attracted to as it rewards them with a meal.

Now if someone has isolated the bed with mattress and box spring encasements, plastic shield, bed post interceptors and even dusted the frame and headboard with a desiccant dust, that will only serve to force bedbugs to harborage up on the next closest area thing that will offer safety out of the light and stability. Thus they can choose dressers, pictures on the wall, behind electrical outlets, in baseboard cracks and so forth. They will then cross the open floor, or come from the walls or even drop off ceilings to get your resting location for a bite. They can hide in any item, even items in the middle of the room and then cross the floor and up your leg to bite. It's why for the fastest treatment as much as the floor surface area should be weaponized with something that is safe for people and pets.

Bedbugs also harbor up in couches, stuffed chairs or anything really that provides a nice crack or crevice to hide close to their hosts resting location IN ANYTHING!. So despite the name "bedbugs" they can be in anything and even in the structure itself, between the walls and ceilings etc. It's just that they are mainly found in the bed area, but couches and dressers (because of the smell of host) are a close second locations, it's usually why they are called bedbugs. But the fact is they can hide in anything just about, anything that is out of the light and usually where they can stick their eggs on.

Anything goes for bedbugs really as once they poop there out of the light and safe, they tend to head back there up to about 10-20 feet in diameter. However somethings that are vertical or upside down and very smooth, like metal, glasses, coated furniture, plastics and so forth that are not rough enough for their claws to easily grab, they will tend to avoid them. They do like coming up the fallen bedding that touches the floor, it smells like their host and it has easy handholds. It's a reason why bedpost interceptors are not perfect detectors. Bedbugs crawl and drop, cannot fly nor hop. Keep that in mind.

Bedbugs will also hide in items and then be carried to non-infested locations. Purses, coats, boxes, computers and whatever has a hiding spot out of the light, they can hide in and hitchhike to your home. So you have to be careful and keep items in plastic that you regularly take back and forth from work or public places. If it's in plastic, like a bin, then they can't crawl inside or get out for that matter.

Bedbugs also have the ability to draw water moisture out of the air, so if it's really dry air in home, bedbugs will gravitate towards moisture sources like bathrooms and the like (air these out!). But if they have a host to feed on, they of course will chose that or any combination in between. Blood gives them food and liquid, allowing them to molt and breed. Moist air allows them to exist in the meanwhile and not die of dehydration, up to one and a half years without a blood meal under the right conditions!

Bedbugs can't climb extremely smooth vertical or upside down surfaces, more so if there is a little dust present to defeat their limited sticky ability they do have.

So as your protecting the bed, furniture, desks and so forth with either smooth tape on vertical surfaces, mattress/box spring encasements or whatever to prevent them from hiding on those items, you have to keep in mind to deny bedbugs safe harborage on each item appropriately and that will push them farther away from your resting spot and hopefully cross a non-repellent pesticide (cracks and crevices) or the 100% ASG desiccant dust wherever it can be applied as most pesticides cannot be applied to the bedding itself for the skin irritation/absorption factor, (a 100% ASG can be applied to the bed, just not the bedding, that you wash more often and high heat dry).

What you do for the bedding, clothes and so forth that are right next to your body, you wash and change those more frequently as any caught in the clothes will die in the washer (24 hour drown if crawling types) or both eggs and crawling via the high heat of a dryer for 30-40 minutes once it's hot in the center (+120 F). Any clean of course needs to be behind plastic as they will smell it's your clothes and wait for you on them.

Bedbugs are hitchikers, so if you sit on a infested couch and then go lie on a well protected bed, your going to transfer some to the bedding where they will hide and attempt to breed.

Bedbugs will also hide in vehicles, however if the air is dry enough and the temps high enough and long enough (+120 F and dry air), also if the vehicle is not used for long periods of time an occasional bedbug will not survive long there. If you dust the vehicles interior cracks, crevices and voids with the 100% ASG dust, that will also kill them when they go to hide.

Bedbugs survive on buses and subways because it's often kept cool (thus moist air), there are a lot of people, the temperature is better for them and they have sources of blood.

People are the main problem with bedbugs, if your in public places inside something long enough, your going to pick one or more up and transfer them unawares.

The object now is instead of detect and destroy, is to mine the home in advance with a 10 year lasting desiccant dust that should catch these occasional hitchhikers and nip them in the bud before they can bite, pair up and breed more.

It's a totally different concept than what is currently being performed with exterminators running around spraying potentially harmful pesticides as an after effect, spray pesticides expire in a few weeks, a 100% ASG lasts 10 years undisturbed. It's a always on defense and we have been doing it here and it works like magic automatically. We occasionally sweep up a dead roach or other bugs every now and then as it also does ants, roaches, and other bugs that suffer from the effects of a desiccant.

The 100% ASG (CimeXa and hopefully others that follow) is only pure silica dioxide, a natural element that is basically powdered sand. It's safer to breathe/ingest (in small quantities) as it's balls instead of sharp crystals like DE is. It's static charged to cling to bugs and they can't detect it, so they keep on crossing it over and over to die. It's really great stuff to watch it work on ants who stupidly come back for their dead.