Bed bugs are pesky insects that feed on human blood to survive. These critters have been around for thousands of years and have developed great techniques to help them stay active. At Accurate Pest Control, we believe that many factors can impact a treatment against bed bugs. Let’s find out what these are.
A bed bug usually lives for about a year. They thrive in warm conditions to breed and survive and require a host to help them develop/lay eggs. Bed bugs can turn dormant (hibernate) in cold temperatures, about 57 degrees Fahrenheit, but don’t die. In the dormant state, they survive for months to a year until the weather goes warmer again. If there is no food, they will travel until a new source is located. On the contrary, bed bugs cannot bear extreme heat. They cannot stand temperatures that are above 120 degrees Fahrenheit and will eventually die.
How Long Do Bed Bugs Survive After Extermination?
If your home is treated with insecticides/chemicals, any bugs caught by the spray will die in a few hours or less. Insecticides are incredibly effective and remain active for several days after use. Therefore, the effect will help catch active bugs long after you treated the area. Even in the most careful applications, some bugs can still escape and survive. The chances are that some bugs and their eggs will be unseen from the reach of the insecticide.
Typically, pest control professionals in San Antonio return after a week to spray again to catch the bugs that had escaped the first time. However, there may still be eggs that remain dormant for 20 days to a month. If the environment is freezing, bed bug eggs will remain alive even after repeated treatment. Once the temperature is warmer, they will re-emerge into the home, searching for new hosts to bite.
Pest control companies in San Antonio could be fooled into thinking a space is clean and so claim it bug-free, only for the new bugs to appear weeks later, as the remaining eggs will hatch. Do not be discouraged; with regular treatments, you should quickly gain control.
Follow Up
After a professional bed bug exterminator in San Antonio, there are some critical steps to ensure it is working. First of all, you need to check for bites or live bed bugs. We at Accurate Pest Control advise you to install protective plastic mattress covers on every mattress in the home. Installing mattress covers after treatment will help protect them from future infestations.
You could also plan to set up interceptor traps as these traps are designed to be placed under the bed legs, chairs, and sofas to monitor bed bug infestations. Bugs fall into the traps when climbing up to the mattress, making them easy to spot. The use of these monitoring tools will assist you in assessing an infestation and tell you whether the situation has been successfully controlled.
If you still spot bed bugs or signs of a bed bug infestation, call our bed bug exterminators in San Antonio at (210) 361-3586 for a further treatment plan.