PESTS
Bedbugs & Mites
Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish colour. Bedbugs do not fly, but they can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs over a lifetime, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust. Immature bedbugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Under favourable conditions, the bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year.
Mites are small and insect-like but are closely related to spiders. Often, they are the size of a period following a sentence. They use piercing mouthparts to eat sap from plants or feed on blood. Mites do not hop or fly but can crawl onto people or animals. They may be found on stored food, crops, and inside homes. They may bite people or animals. Others may be parasitic to birds or mammals. Some mites may also scavenge for their food