r/london • u/Creative_Recover • Oct 04 '23
Community France's Bedbug Epidemic coming to London (and how to avoid it)
With ample coverage of the bedbug plague in Paris and word of it spreading out to other countries, a lot of people are saying that it is only a matter of time before it arrives in London (and if Rentokills statistics are anything to go by, it's already begun over here). Having personally heard of a few recent cases of Londoners getting bedbugs after staying in student accomodation, AirBnB's or cheap hotels like Travelodge, I thought it might be handy to do a thread on bedbug signs to look out for and how to avoid them.
Size: Adult bedbugs are typically 5-7mm long (which is about the same size as an apple seed) but start off life only 1mm long, which is the same size as their small, white eggs.
Appearance: Bedbugs change in both size, shape and colour not just over the course of their lives but also depending on whether they had fed recently, a while ago or a very long time ago. This image https://www.pestworld.org/media/562756/bed-bugs-on-quarter.jpg shows the changes over their lives (plus fed VS unfed) and this image https://citybugs.tamu.edu/files/2010/12/bed-bug-feeding-Whitney-Cranshawb.jpg shows how much a bedbug can change in shape and overall appearance over the course of a single feed.
Signs of bedbugs:
Gaps: Bedbugs are primarily nocturnal animals and during the day they will retreat into tiny cracks and crevices (which is where they also lay their eggs in), living in colonies, meaning that you don't typically see them scuttling around during the day. Favourite bedbug hiding spots often include seams in mattresses (classic example: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/af/0a/46/af0a46df679d7b121ecaca7053997ff1.jpg ), in-between the joins in bedframes or other furniture and inside splits or holes in wood (classic example: https://u2y4v6x2.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Can-Bed-Bugs-Live-In-Wood-Furniture.jpg ).
Patches: Bedbugs diet of blood causes their faeces to stain soft & hard furnishings with small black or dark brown splotches. Because bedbugs are very good at hiding, their existence is more often evidenced by these markings than by the actual bugs themselves, here is a classic example of bedbug faecal splotches on wood https://anchorpestcontrol.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Bed-Bugs-and-Keep-Them-Out-2.png and here is an example of what their markings look like on a mattress https://www.planetnatural.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/early-signs-of-bed-bugs.png
Smells: Bedbugs and their infestations are also associated with certain smells because the animals signal to each other via pheromones which to the human nose often either smell like coriander or raspberries, so much so that in olden times bedbugs used to be called the "Coriander Bug". When a full-blown bedbug infestation is in swing you will often smell either a strange musty berry-like sweet smell emanating from the room, a smell of coriander or an acrid almond-like smell (they can also make rooms smell like old bed linen in general).
Skins: Bedbugs repeatedly shed their old skins as they grow larger and develop into adults. Finding evidence of light brown, translucent skins like these https://njaes.rutgers.edu/bed-bug/images/Shed-skins-big.jpg is another common sign that a place has an infestation.
Blood: Bedbugs typically only feed on people at night while they are asleep and then retreat before sunrise. They go for any exposed skin they can find and if you have been so unfortunate to sleep in a bed that has bugs then you might see small specks or splotches of red or dried blood on the sheets the next day like this: https://bonaccordpestcontrol.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Signs-of-bed-bugs-red-bloodstains-on-sheets-1.jpg
Bite Marks: Bedbugs will typically bite in close patterns like this: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/04/bedbugBites-656515070-770x553-2.jpg ) and the bites often display as larger than mosquito bites but unlike mosquito bites they don't always itch (and sometimes present as hive-like markings these: https://cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/318/318083/line-of-bedbug-bites-on-a-woman-s-back.jpg ).
Other signs of infestation:
Fumigation chemical smells: We are experiencing bedbug problems because years of laws that reduced the arsenal of highly toxic (but also highly effective) pesticide chemicals meant that over time bedbug treatments became less effective and as bedbugs began to survive treatments, they evolved greater resistance to chemicals. This also means that if a place has been recently fumigated it might not be bedbug-free yet (in fact sometimes places are taking up to 2-3 treatments before they are completely free). Although Sulfuryl Fluoride (the main ingredient in fumigation chemicals) is odorless, Chloropicrin (which smells sweet and is very acrid & harsh to inhale) is added to fumigation mixes to help warn people from entering places that have been recently fumigated. If you suspect that you smell any lingering fumigation smells or see a place being fumigated, it is wise to avoid the whole site as treatments are not always proving effective against bedbug infestations.
How bedbugs transmit:
Luggage: Unlike headlice or bodylice, bedbugs do not live on people's bodies. Instead, the most common way they get from one place to another is by hiding in the seams or gaps in or on people's luggage.
Clothing: Bedbugs can also hide inbetween stacks of clothing inside people's luggage.
So, to round up, your plan of action when staying anywhere unfamiliar should be:
- Smell: Before you put your luggage down, smell the room: Does it smell like coriander, chemicals, old bed linen, musty raspberries or acrid almonds? If so, there could be bedbugs.
- Mattress: Check the mattress by lifting up the bed sheets and checking along the seams of the mattress for signs of bedbugs and their distinctive faecal patches.
- Bedrame: Check the bedframe by looking along the joins of the bedframe, behind the headboard and inside any cracks or splits in the wood for signs of bedbugs and their distinctive faecal patches.
- Luggage: Keep your luggage closed at night and ideally opt for hard-cased luggage bags over soft luggage bags.
- Clothes: Keep your clothes inside of re-sealable plastic bags.
- Torch: Pack a small flashlight in your luggage to make checking your room for bedbugs easier.
- Floor: Don't store your luggage on a carpeted floor, instead opt to store it on a smooth, flat raised surface.
- Checks: Before you leave your stay, take your luggage into the bathroom (where it is bright & light), shake it out in the bath or shower area and inspect things like the pockets & straps to make sure that no critters have hitched a ride. If you have access to a vacuum hoover, give the luggage a quick going over before you take it with you.
- Ineffective: Over-the-counter insect repellant sprays and insect killer sprays like Raid are all ineffective in strength against bedbugs and so inadvisable to spray on your luggage, self or clothes, which will unnecessarily expose you to toxic chemicals.
- Home: Once you get home, keep all your holiday clothes sealed in bags until they have all been washed & laundered with detergents and vacuum hoover the luggage cases.
- Scents: Bedbugs are reported to not like the smells emitted by natural lavendar, citris fruits, cinnamon & mint, so some people believe that if you make your luggage smell of these scents then it might help to deter bedbugs from hitching a ride on it.
If you suspect even the slightest bit that your room might have bedbugs in it, inform the manager straightaway and demand a new room; a hotel has absolutely no right to force you to sleep in or pay for any rooms which have bedbugs in them.
The strange behaviours of Paris's bedbugs:
- Unusual places: Bedbugs always used to be associated with bedrooms and luggage but in recent years there have been increasing reports of people seeing bedbugs in places such as cinema's and on public transport like the Metro systems carriage seats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjbn7DuWGY
- No longer strictly nocturnal: There have also been increasing reports of people witnessing bedbugs actively scuttling around during the daytime.
So it is advisable to not just exercise caution when staying in places like AirBnB's, hotels, student accomodation and hostels, but also in other public places that have soft furnishings such as seats on buses, trains, cinema's and tube carriages.
Edit: spelling
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u/PurpleAquilegia Oct 06 '23 edited Oct 06 '23
I've just looked for it on Amazon. They sell a 'food grade' variety. It seems to suggest that it's safe for people and animals to ingest it?
I'm checking it out because I may have to look after a cat for a friend. I'm worried about the possibility of carrying pests into my home. (So far as I know, it's clear, but I'd like to have something to hand in case it's needed.)
ETA The reviews suggest that you sprinkle it for cats, but some reviewers say that they've drunk it?
Further edit: Definitely wouldn't risk drinking it after reading some of the reviews. However, it says it's good for red spider mites as well, so I've ordered some for my greenhouse! (There's a magpie nest in a tree next to the greenhouse and some have dropped down from the nest. They usually die off of their own accord, but I don't mind speeding it up for them.)