They’re back with a vengeance. All but eradicated in the 1950’s, the modern bed bug has been plotting a comeback of epic proportions. Since the early 1990’s, bed bug infestations have increased dramatically, leaving homeowners chewed-up and looking for professional pest control.

Bed Bug Stats

A single bed bug can lay up to 5 eggs a day — spawning more than 500 in a lifetime.

A bed bug’s average feeding time is about 5 minutes, where they’ll consume roughly 7 times their own weight and go back into hiding.

Bed bugs don’t mind the weather – they can survive heat in excess of 49 degrees and frigid temperatures as low as 0.

The average bed bug is about 0.6 centimeters long, and their newborn hatchlings are small enough to crawl through seams and holes in stitching.

How They Enter Your Home

A survey conducted in 2011 asked American homeowners what locations they felt put them at the highest risk of exposure to bed bugs:

80% responded hotels. Bed Bugs that infest hotel rooms can easily follow a guest home by hiding in luggage or clothes.

52% said public transportation. This is very possible but still less likely due to the amount of consistent traffic in trains, busses, and airplanes.

49% included movie theatres, which may make you think twice about wearing your jacket or sweater to your next movie date.

32% blamed the workplace and friends’ homes as the source of their bed bug troubles.

Bed Bugs by the Numbers

99.6% – The number of professional pest management companies that have encountered a bed bug infestation in 2013.

49% of all bed bug infestations reportedly occur during the summer months.

Bed Bugs can be found in all 50 states, but residents of the Midwest, South and Western states accounted for more than 59% of all bed bug sightings in 2011.