Pest Management Professional, January 2015

SHEP ErSPEctivE Bed Bugs By Mark Sheperdigian BCE Contributor How big a threat is one bed bug W hich spreads more bed bugs Visiting infested hotels or picking up discarded furniture It has been a long time since I snagged a couch or chair off the curb but I stay in hotels regularly I used to perform an exhaustive inspection of every hotel room before I slept in it Recently though it has become apparent such rigorous precautions are overkill in many areas of the country I still inspect every room but I no longer invert every piece of furniture or separate every pleat in the drapes Im content to check the headboard mattress and box spring edges baseboards and behind the nightstand sometimes If I see evidence of bed bugs Ill insist on another room but I dont have to examine every crevice with the toothpick I just found to sleep well Ive only found a live bed bug in a hotel room once I checked in and searched for bed bugs before my roommate arrived I was tempted to just quit after I inspected my bed but a deeply ingrained sense of loyalty and duty urged me to check his bed too I almost finished the inspection when I saw several small dark specks that looked like bed bug spots Sure enough there in an angle pocket hole was a single live adult male bed bug Great I thought Now Ill have to see the manager tell my tale move my bags and conduct another bed bug check in a new room all with little guarantee this was the only bed bug in the hotel Of course it also occurred to me this bed bug wouldnt bypass my roommate in this bed to go all the way over to bite me in my bed Thats when the inner conflict started Angel on my right shoulder Go on report it Its the right thing to do Devil on my left shoulder Its on his bed He wont feel it He hardly reacts at all You dont have to outrun the bear you just have to outrun him Relax I did the right thing I called the manger and he graciously gave us another room and watched as I inspected it Naturally I had to inspect much more carefully than I usually do because someone was watching You can reach Sheperdigian at shep@ rosepest com SomE bugS arE an iSland The bed bug I found in the first room was an adult male and the small granular droppings suggested he hadnt eaten since he arrived at the headboard He was alone and unable to get anything started by himself He may have bitten a guest or two but most people barely react and would never even know Without a mate this was one lonely old bugger who was doomed to live out his days in a quiet hotel room getting thinner and thinner until he expired like an unfed parking meter Most hitchhiking bed bugs go this way They get out the door well enough but then theyre faced with a series of choices many of which end in disaster The species appears to turn on numbers and if Photo Mark ShePerdigian i b d Th T ro s Pictured above is the lone bed bug specimen the author encountered in his hotel room Continued on PagE 34 32 January 2015 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net