If It's Not a Bed Bug, It Might Be A.............................Cont.

Yesterday, I blogged about "cat mites" and how they were confused with bed bugs.

There are three other bugs, that without a microscope it is impossible to tell the difference between them and the bed bug, as they are related. Before treating for bed bugs it is imperative to look at a bug specimen under a microscope or take it to an extension office and have it verified as a bed bug. The reason it is important to actually determine if you have bed bugs or not is because if you treat for bed bugs and it turns out to be a bat bug, swallow bug or a poultry bug they will be back the next day as these bugs move from the outside to the inside.

The bat bug is the bug we see most often that turns out not to be a bed bug. Some people believe that bed bugs are decedents of the bat bug, or the Cimex Adjunctus.  If a home has bat bugs the bats need to be addressed, as well. Bat bugs are usually found in old two story homes with lots of trees and vegetation surrounding the home. Bats have been seen flying outside at night, near the house. However, this is not always true as we have seen bat bugs in a suburban tri-level home with the owner unaware that bats were close by. We have also found them in a two-story home with a flat roof.

The first bat bug we found was in a two story Denver Square home close to the Botanic Gardens. The customer had treated for bed bugs a few days before and now the the bugs were back. Dusty Boot thoroughly searched the upper levels of the home where the bug specimens were found. We looked outside the window and on the ledge there was some bat guano and low and behold it looked like a "bed bug" crawling into the room at the window sill, outside in! We picked up the bug and taped it to a white sheet of paper and looked at it under a microscope.

Sure enough, after looking at the length of the hairs on the upper covering of the thorax of the bug the length of the bug's hair was longer the width of it's eye, so it was a bat bug.  A bed bug hairs that are smaller than the width of it's eye.

See picture:

Bat bugs prefer bats to humans so their infestations do not seem to be as entrenched, and we've found that they can even be somewhat seasonal. We have found bat bugs typically close to the window openings or on the drapes.

So do you have bat bugs or bed bugs, something to consider!

If It's Not a Bed Bug It Might Be a............................

Because we see bed bug infestations early on we see a wide variety of bugs that might resemble the bed bug but aren't. This past summer we ran into one of these scenarios, which turned out to be a new one for us, too!

A customer had bites that her doctor thought were bed bug bites, she had not seen any bugs but she works with the homeless population and it was very possible she had brought them home. 

She called us in to do a home inspection to verify that she had bed bugs before treatment. Bed bug mitigation is expensive. She also wanted to know what rooms to treat if treatment was needed.

Dusty Boot inspected her home but did not alert. 

After discussing, at length her situation she informed us that she had recently brought a stray cat into her house. The cat was in need of medical attention. The veterinarian thought cat mites were a possibility. As It turned, out she did not have bed bugs but cat mites. 

Here is an except from the customer's email after our inspection:

Hi Sunny!

 

 

I took the cat back to the veterinarian for the scheduled booster dose of mite medicine yesterday.  I have had no more bites since you were here (yay!).

 

The very next day after I saw you I was visiting a new client of mine and she told me she has bedbugs and had thrown out her bed. 

I thought, "You gotta be kidding me!" ...after everything I had just gone thru. What are the chances?

I have been super careful and taking better precautions. 

 

The veterinarian wrote down the name of the mite he thought the cat and I were affected by... thought you'd like to know.

 

cheyletiella mites on humans

 

 

Take care

Cheyletiella is a genus of mites which live on the surface of the skin of cats, dogs and humans. Symptoms in animals range from no manifestations to extreme itching, scales on skin, and loss of hair. Manifestations in humans are – numerous red bumps on the trunk, arms, and buttocks; which are very itchy. Symptoms usually fade in 3 weeks.

The adult Cheyletiella mite is 0.385 millimeters long, has 8 legs with combs, and palpi which terminate in hooks. They do not burrow into the skin, but dwell in the keratin. Their 21-day life cycle is on 1 host.  

The red text was copied from this site.

Cat mite bites look very similar to bed bug bites.

Cat mites though much, much smaller do look similar to bed bugs.

We had a happy ending, the veterinarian treated the cat for cat mites, problem solved. No bed bugs, no bed bug treatment! We wish more house calls ended like this one!

Accurate K-9 Pest Detection takes no referral fees from any pest company. The only money we receive is from our customers. We do not make more money if our dog finds bugs, which is not true for all bed bug scent dogs.

Here is an addition except from customer's email:

Thank you Sunny and Brad for coming to my home. You guys are special to work with folks like me living in a nightmare and feeling so vulnerable, emotional and confused 

about learning they may have a problem.  I have some peace of mind now and have been educated about how to be more vigilant and hopefully prevent any problem in the future. Once again, thanks so much for coming and accommodating me so soon!

I'd be happy to reference for you anytime.