Where Are Bed Bugs Most Often Found?

Given their common name, you would not think that there would be any mystery concerning where bed bugs can be found. After all, they are called “bed bugs”, so they infest beds, right? While bed bugs are often found in beds, and most bites occur while humans are in bed, bed bugs can actually be found in a number of places. While bed bugs prefer to dwell within fabric materials in order to reproduce in private, they can survive on flat surface areas for months, even without food. However, if you are looking for bed bugs within your home, it is most sensible to search any place where fabric materials are present. If fabric is available to bed bugs within a particular area, then they will most certainly gravitate towards it. Even if you don’t find bed bugs within fabric in your home, that does not mean that they are not hiding in more obscure locations.

Bed bugs are most often found, and treated in fabric materials, but experts have also noted that it is common to find bed bugs on people’s walls. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, in homes that are heavily infested with bed bugs, the bugs can move onto walls and even within electrical outlets. Bed bugs are also sometimes found beneath wallpaper and behind wall hangings. The area where a wall meets the ceiling tends to be a bed bug hotspot. Although bed bug infestations are not common in areas that are free of bedding and fabrics, researchers are surprised to learn that bed bug infestations are becoming more common in American libraries.

So far, multiple states have reported bed bug infestations within libraries. These states include California, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and a whole lot more. During 2015, seventeen percent of pest control operators encountered bed bugs within libraries. These infestations are becoming so common, that the Public Library Association has created a webinar that is accessible to all library staff within the United States. This webinar explains where to look for bed bugs and how they can be prevented.

Would you ever return to a library that had seen multiple bed bug infestations?