Sightings of bed bugs anywhere in the home can trigger your alarm bells.
But if you found one bed bug on the wall, then it’s a sign that you wished you would never see.
Why?
Let’s find it out.
Even One Bed Bug On The Wall Is A Sign Of Bed Bug Infestation!
Let’s face it. Bed bugs aren’t scavengers who’ll crawl on the walls and floors looking for something to eat or hunt.
Bed bugs are parasites that survive on only one thing. And that’s human blood.
Bed bugs are nocturnal bugs. They bite and have their blood meals during the night. During the day, bed bugs hide in the thin gaps and cracks.
They’ll not venture out looking for their blood meals.
But if you see bed bugs crawling on the wall during the day (or night), then there can be one menacing reason. And the reason is that your home has a bed bug infestation.
Bed bugs’ numbers have increased, and they’re looking for other thin gaps and cracks to hide.
Typically, bed bugs will hide in your bed or in the crevices of the room’s furniture that are not more than 6-8 feet away from your bed.
On an optimistic, finding one bed bug on the wall can also mean that there’s a random bed bug that hitchhiked into your home.
But no matter what, you must look for other bed bugs and their signs, in the wall and other places of your home, especially in your bedroom.
Signs Of Bed Bugs In The Wall
There are three signs of bed bugs in the wall which should make you look out for bed bugs in your home –
- Sightings of adult bed bugs crawling on the wall
- Bed bug nymphs, eggs, and shed skin the wall’s crevices
- Bed bug fecal spots on the wall
Bed bugs hide in the gaps and cracks on the walls and furniture nearby the wall. So, find out those cracks.
Then you’d need to ensure that bed bugs are hiding in these cracks. There’s an easy way to do that. All you’ll need is a credit card or a piece of paper.
Take a credit card and insert it into those cracks.
If the gap is too thin to insert the credit card, then take a piece of paper and insert it.
Then slowly pull the paper or credit card out from the cracks. If there are bed bugs inside the gap, you’ll see bed bugs sticking with the card.
You can also notice bed bug shells, tiny off-whitish bed bug eggs, and even baby bed bugs coming out stuck on the paper.
Use the same procedure to check for bed bugs in the electrical sockets and on the edges of the switchboard because bed bugs can also hide in these places.
How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In The Wall?
First, use a bed bug spray in the walls’ cracks. That will kill the bed bugs hiding in the crevices.
Second, seal those gaps and cracks with a quality sealant.
If there’s a wallpaper on the wall, then you’ll need to take the wallpaper off before you treat the wall for bed bugs.
But both the above steps can eliminate bed bugs in the walls, but not in your home.
It’ll be best if you hire a professional pest controller to inspect your home for bed bugs.
How Long Bed Bugs Can Live In The Walls?
The correct answer depends on what life stage the bed bugs in the walls are currently in.
Bed bug nymphs need regular blood meals to grow. Without blood meals, they’ll not survive for long.
So, the baby bed bugs (nymphs) will die soon in the wall if they don’t get their blood meals.
But the adult bed bugs are resilient. They can remain hidden in the wall, waiting for a host for 400 days.
Their survival without blood meals also depends on the temperature and humidity.
If you live in a hot and humid place, the adult bed bugs can go on for a year without a blood meal.
But if your home is freezing in the winters, then the bed bugs hiding in the walls will die within 30-45 days.
Bed bugs can’t survive extreme cold and extreme heat. That’s why bed bugs in the bed die if you clean your bed with a steam cleaner.
Similarly, if you put bed bugs in a plastic bag and put that inside a freezer, the bed bugs will die within 48 hours.
Conclusion
Sighting of one bed bug on the wall can be a sign of bad bed bug infestation. It indicates the bed bug numbers have shot up inside your home.
This guide reveals what you must do after spotting bed bugs on the walls.
After taking those steps, you must hire a professional to get your home inspected for bed bugs.
Dr. Thomas Orbert, the Microbial Maestro, dances with the tiniest of creatures as an entomologist extraordinaire! With a PhD in entomology, his passion lies in unraveling the secret symphonies of insect-microbe interactions. From minuscule marvels to captivating complexities, Dr. Orbert unveils the hidden world of bugs, igniting curiosity one buzz at a time!