Bed Bugs vs. Bat Bugs
February 25, 2009 – 4:41 pmIn this episode, Jeff will discuss the differences in treatment approaches when dealing with a bat bug infestation. Recently in some online forums, hes read that bat bug and bed bug treatments do not differ, or at least not much, from each other. While this may be close to the truth, there are a few minor differences that are critical when dealing with bat bugs. One of the most important differences is that as long as the bats are present in the home (in the attic or wherever else), the bat bugs may be as well. One of the earliest and most important steps to eradicating bat bug infestations is to exclude the bats from the home. After that, Jeff does agree that bat bug and bed bug treatments tend to be very similar and if anything, based on his experiences, bat bugs tend to be slightly easier to eradicate compared with bed bugs.
Related Links:
Ohio State University – Bat Bug Fact Sheet
University of Minnesota – Bed Bug Information
Iowa State University – Bat Bug Info
Related posts:
3 Responses to “Bed Bugs vs. Bat Bugs”
First thank you for the information.
My daughter and her family recently had to move into our home because the bat bug infestation in the old apartment at her father in laws was out of control.
I made them wash everything in hot water and then spray all the toys and stuffed animal with alcohol before theymoved in. They were not allowed to bring beds or furniture. This was 2 months ago.
Well last night my grandson told me he got bit by a bat bug. I checked his bed and sure enough, there was one, I searched for more for about 4 hours now and haven’t found any. I then sprayed the entire room, mattress and box spring and all his toys with alcohol.
My questions are
1. His cousin spent the weekend at his grandfathers house where the bat bugs were. Could he have transported one or more into my home?
2. If I see one does that mean there are thousands crawling around my house now?
3. Could he get sick from the bite?
Thank you for your time with important matter. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Beth
By Beth Hambrick on Jun 1, 2009
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!
By AndrewBoldman on Jun 4, 2009
Beth,
From my experiences, when we find an account with bat bugs, that usually means there are bats in the house. Meaning that I haven’t seen any accounts where bat bugs have “hitchhiked” to another house. If you think about it logically, they don’t have the same biology and behavior as bed bugs in that they coincide their life cycle with bats and shouldn’t really be found on suitcases or bags looking to “hitch” a ride on. Therefore, you may want to have the bug you found (or any you find in the future) professionally identified to make sure it is a bat bug. Unfortunately, I’m skepticle that it was.
I’m not sure what finding one bug implies about the rest of your house depending on what type of bug it is. Differentiating between bat and bed bugs requires a microscope.
Bed bugs have not been shown to be able to transmit disease but “getting sick” could me a lot of different things. Could you get an infection from scratching a bite and does that mean you “got sick”? If so then yes but as I said, bed bugs haven’t been shown to transmit disease. I don’t think there has been a lot of research done in that regards to bat bugs but my best assumption is that the same is probably true.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
By Jeff White on Jun 4, 2009