Bed Bug Battle - Weapons Where?

[sante]

I'm getting bitten in bed and think it may be bed bugs. The problem began about a month ago but then the bites were sharp nips on my fingers and when I woke up, found the ever present tiny ants in my bed. They already resided in my kitchen and bathroom but their presence in my bed was just too invasive so I used a homemade boric acid solution to get rid of them.

Treatment was successful and no ants since then. However, sometime afterwards I began to get different types of bites, usually on my neck and upper body, most of them turning into swollen itchy welts. Although I've stayed awake many nights, with flashlight nearby, I can't seem to catch any in the act. Last night, I did find an insect that I don't think is the culprit but it may have been feeding on one. I took a photo with my microscope and have attached it here. Can anyone identify the winged insect? I think it has a bedbug nymph in it's grip but can't really tell because magnification isn't high enough.

By the way, I discovered in my recent bed bug research that those tiny ants eat bed bug eggs and nymphs so they were probably in my bed hunting for a meal.

I'd prefer to treat the problem without using a poisonous insecticide so am now trying to amass weapons of destruction. They would be easy to purchase in the U.S. but don't know where to find them here in CM.

--fabric steamer (heat over 94C or 200F is fatal to bed bugs)

--food grade diatomaceous earth

--the best topical ointment to relieve itchiness

The easiest way to solve the problem would be to increase the room temperature. Since my bedroom faces the west, I could probably do it with the help of an electric heater. Are heaters available in the area? If it was March or April, I wouldn't even need a heater, just close all the windows and bake for several hours in the afternoon.

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

[daoyai]

No way you will get your room to 200F. without some disaster. Bed bug nymph? don't think so, have you googalized bed bug lifecycle" to se photos? also pics and symptoms of bites?

[samtam]

In Bangkok we use a company called coit dot co dot th, but whether they operate in CM, I don't know. We have the mattresses vacuumed every six months. It's done when we're away, but the maid says the gunk that comes out is amazing. All, (as in all of us in the world), of our chairs and beds has a bug life we'd rather not know about, but most of it is quite harmless.

[eyecatcher]

I would have thought a deep clean with a vacuum cleaner would go a long way to solving the problem, and clean the mattress with an appropriate solution.

Spraying it with your bog standard chaindrite crack and crevice spray should completely wipe out any that are left and would kill the eggs.

Sent via tin can and string after pigeon shot

[Pond Life]

Could it be that your red welts are an allergic reaction to something ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hives

Could someone have sprayed your bed with insecticide ?

[masuk]

I have never seen Thai folk put their mattresses out in the sun. Quite common in many parts of Asia, as it dries out the mattress and moves on many of the inhabitants. I wouldn't like to try and move mine, as it weights a tonne.

I was once in a youth hostel in Darwin, where a guy was bitten across the chest by bed bugs. The cleaning up included the curtains, where they love to hide in the seams.

Seems they like hitching lifts on personal gear coming in from overseas.

[zippydedodah]

we had an outbreak of bedbugs in our men's shelter in the city of berkeley. Of course, we had to find the most humane and politically

correct way to solve the problem.

At the end of the day it was infrared heat lamps... focused on the walls to get rid of bugs living in the walls and the mattresses we had to toss (homeless advocates would settle for nothing less).

good luck...as mentioned, first step is to correctly identify your problem.

[sante]

I've been doing a lot of research on bed bugs but haven't read about ozone or ozoneate treatments. Actually heat seems to be the best way to kill them, either by direct application of steam or heating the room. In my initial post I got the numbers wrong--it's 115F or 46C for 7 minutes to kill the insects in all stages. In March and April, with the windows and doors shut, my bedroom could easily reach that high. Too bad this is the "cooler" season. Maybe one electric heater could pump up the temperature to the necessary level. Has anyone seen heaters for sale here?

I'm pretty sure the problem is bed bugs--from my online research the appearance and pattern of the bites match photos and descriptions. Also the droppings look the same. And my neighbors are scratching too. I've been trying to catch one but they're so tiny that my hunt has been unsuccessful so far. I plan to try a clever but simple trap posted on Youtube which uses yeast, sugar and water to produce CO2 to lure the vampires. Here's the link although I hope you'll never need it. The trap would probably work for any blood thirsty insect, especially the crawling types.

Although the bugs aren't a health hazard, their bites are very uncomfortable. I find them more swollen, longer lasting and itchier than mosquitoe bites so I'd like to edradicate while the population is low.

My battle plan is to vacuum the area, then heat treat mattress seams and wood headboard/base joints with a garment steamer and finally spread around diatomaceous earth. The problem is finding some of the ingredients locally.

[lewisr90]

yeah we eradicate bed bugs all the time you should give ozone a go.

[Jose]

yeah we eradicate bed bugs all the time you should give ozone a go.

Super-high voltage should do it, as long as the bed is not inside a Faraday cage.