Bed Bugs on the March Nationally

In Florida, we’ve seen a rash of bed bug complaints. Most experts will attribute to the rise in bed bug complaints to unsanitary conditions in hotels or motels but there’s growing evidence that the problem is spreading and the culprits can be linked to more than dirty mattresses and bedding.
Some experts attribute the rise in bed bug complaints to the lack of an effective chemical agent to destroy the bugs and their eggs. The banning of the toxic chemical DDT, greater travel to third world countries and the bed bugs growing resistance to modern insecticided amounts to more bed bugs.
The most common variety, Cimex lectularius is a hardy, flattened brownish insect that can survive without a food source for up to a year! Female bedbugs can lay up to five eggs a day. Unfortunately, bed bug colonies can also thrive in immaculate homes and aren’t fussy about their food source. They just need a warm-blooded host including pets and humans.
In three years, bed bug complaints in New York City have quadrupled from 1,839 in 2005 to 8,830 complaints in 2008.