Bed Bugs
The common bed bug occurs in the southern United States but is relatively uncommon in Missouri. Yet, traveling to areas infested with the blood-sucking insect, it's easy to unintentionally invite bed bugs into your home (and bed). In simple terms, bed bugs are opportunistic “hitch hikers.”
Biology & Life Cycle
Bed bugs are brown, flat, oval, wingless and slightly smaller that a pencil eraser when unfed. They possess a piercing beak through which they suck the blood of a host. Like ticks, bed bugs need a blood meal to survive and develop.
Habitats in Missouri
Bed bugs are found in nearly every place people tend to gather, including homes, hotels, schools, offices, and even retail stores. The bugs are not known to carry diseases but are undesirable because of their irritating bite.
Diet & the Search for Food
Bed bugs hide in cracks and crevices in and around the bed during the day and come out at night to feed on people asleep in the bed.
Management & Eradication
When an infestation is uncontrolled, it is recommended you contact a licensed professional like Hometown Pest Solutions. Our exterminators deploy chemicals and treatments not found on store shelves.
Learn more from the University of Missouri Extension (opens in a new tab).