Bed bugs are actually more of an annoyance than a serious medical threat. However, despite the fact that they are less dangerous than others believe them to be, still, they simply must be eliminated. Their presence might not seriously affect your health but they sure can bring many negative things that could degrade the cleanliness and tidiness of houses.

As a matter of fact, it is not just houses that they can invade. They can live in hospitals, inns, hotels, and even busses and trains too. And what ill effects they can bring to these places are actually just their secondary negative effects. The worst that they can bring is directed to you in the form of welts and swollen skin.

Blood is bed bugs’ food and biting through their victim’s skin, which can be you, is their means of feeding. That is how they can cause welts and swollen skin. The reactions to the biting often vary from one person to another. For example, the bite can cause you sudden and painful skin swelling while others may experience no or delayed reaction. Yet, more often than not, victims are unaware of the bites as they are painless and just happen during the night.

These bed insects’ negative effects to houses, to other things and places and to you are enough reasons to really eliminate them. And to avoid their prolong causing of ill effects; the process to get rid of bed bugs must be immediate and effective. The following numbers or figures representing bed bugs facts can answer the “why” behind the need for the effectiveness.

• ¼ - ¾ – This is adult bed bugs average length in inches. Their young can measure 1/16 of an inch while their eggs are about 1/32 of an inch. This pests’ small size basically allows them to hide even in smallest cracks, and crevices. Therefore when looking for them, the gaps on walls, floors and furniture must be the first spots to check.

• 10 -18 months – This is the average life span of bed bugs. Within that time, they can stay unfed. Their long life span is partly the one to blame for their fast increase in population once they start infesting.

• 200 – 400 – Female bed bugs can lay this many eggs in a year. How many of them exactly can be laid depends on various factors as the amount of food available and temperature.

• 2-5 – minutes – That's how long these bed insects can suck blood out of you. However, you and others too may not be able to notice the biting as it usually happens at night and the bite itself is painless. But then, it can still leave you a swollen and itchy skin.

Generally, these given figures are significant to bed bugs and its infestation. Remembering them will give you valid reasons why the bed insects must be eliminated. In some ways, knowing them will also help you execute the control pest method more effectively.