Traveling can bring bed bugs

Q. What is this insect? Please tell me it is not a bed bug.

- Anoynmous

A. Yes, even the person asking this question wants to be anonymous. They are one of many who try to avoid bed bugs, but end up bringing them home.

Summer time means travel, and along with travel we have found that there are stowaways that no one wants to bring home. One sample brought into our clinic recently was from an exterminator. When we called with the bad news, his response was, “But they are such clean people!” I asked if they had recently traveled, and the answer was yes. There it is. Bed bugs don’t discriminate. They had been to a top-rated, brand-name hotel!

Bedbugs are about º-inch long, with a brown flattened body that swells as they gorge on blood. That is their sole diet. The body is elongated with a proboscis for biting and syphoning out blood. Eggs are deposited in nesting areas (usually in close proximity to the bed or the box springs) and there are five molts of instars to adulthood. Each instar will feast, then molt. They can go months without a blood meal, and they are found in every country, as humans are their preference. The bat bug, a close relative, will feed on humans, but their preference is bats. They can be found in older homes where bats roost in the attics, and can migrate down into bedrooms. Birds and other mammals can be used as food if in a pinch.

When traveling, the first line of defense is to completely check your hotel room – mattresses, box springs, frames, headboards, around electrical outlets, looking for dried blood smears, the feces of the bedbugs. Keep your luggage up in the hanging area or in the bath tub/shower. Keep shoes turned upside down. Keep purses, make-up kits and suitcases closed when not in use. Keep stuffed toys in the car.

You cannot feel a bedbug biting, and they can bite in a line, usually three. A welt will show the bites, but they do not carry any diseases. There is an itchy reaction.

When you return home you can keep clothes (suitcases and all that was in the hotel) in the closed up car to heat them up for over 24 hours. Or, you can take everything out of the suitcases and shake them all well, then wash in the hottest water possible, then into the hottest setting on your dryer. These instructions may prove invaluable to keeping this infestation out of your home.

If you find any suspicious insect in your luggage or clothing, bring it (in alcohol) to the extension office for identification and what to do. For more on bed bugs from our researchers, go to: http://u.osu.edu/bedbugs/.

Stephanie Hughes is an OSU Extension master gardener volunteer in Mahoning County. Call 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Regular clinic hours are 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Thursdays.