The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius ) have long been pests — feeding on blood, inflicting (itchy) bites, and generally irritating the skin of their human hosts. Health authorities consider bed bugs a public health pest. However, unlike most public health pests, bed bugs are not known to transmit or spread disease. However, an infestation can cause significant inconvenience, both physical and psychological, and must absolutely be treated seriously. And to identify these pests, dogs have become expert detectives.
If you see a bed bug infestation, it's best to identify it early, before the infestation becomes established or spreads. Treating a minor infestation, although an inconvenience, is much cheaper and easier than treating the same infestation once it has spread.
However, low level infestations are also much harder to find and identify correctly. Other insects, such as carpet beetles, can easily be confused with bedbugs. If you misidentify a bed bug infestation, it gives them more time to spread to other areas of the house or latch onto someone else to start a new infestation. P>
Bites on the skin are a poor indicator of a bedbug infestation. Bed bug bites can resemble those of other insects (like mosquitoes or chiggers), rashes (like eczema or fungal infections), or even hives. Note that some people do not react at all to bed bug bites.
Here are the characteristics of adult bedbugs:
A more accurate way to identify a potential infestation is to look for physical signs of bed bugs. When cleaning your room or changing bedding, look for:
Dogs can be useful allies in helping pest control technicians detect bed bugs in homes and/or other areas. Around 2011, dogs began to be certified to help detect pests. Using their unique scent traits, dogs can help detect bed bugs in homes, even in hard-to-reach places.
Thus, many companies now offer a canine bedbug detection service, the results of which are well established. The accuracy of dogs in detecting and identifying bedbugs exceeds that of humans in many situations, especially when it comes to detecting an infestation in hard-to-reach areas. To properly detect bed bugs, dogs must undergo a high level of ongoing training and be assisted by a pest control professional in field investigations.
In 2008, researchers at the University of Florida conducted a study on the effectiveness of dogs detecting bed bugs. The dogs were trained to differentiate between bed bugs and other household pests (eg, Florida carpenter ants, German cockroaches, subterranean termites) using a food reward system. The dogs were trained to detect bedbugs by smell rather than sight, which helped them be more accurate.
Bed bugs emit unique pheromones and dogs are trained to recognize that particular scent. This method also allowed them to inspect areas hidden from humans. Since bedbugs tend to hide in crevices and behind walls, this is an important skill.
The study showed that when bedbugs were detected, dogs scratched near the surface to alert their owners/trainers. The dogs showed a 97.5% success rate. Additionally, dogs can differentiate between live/dead bed bugs, eggs and exoskeletons with 95% success.
