Develop a protocol to help determine if you are combating bed bugs or bat bugs

Greg Pettis

Nature-Cide

You may have a “bat bug situation” when your normal bed bug application doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, and reintroduction doesn’t seem to be the issue. The average technician can’t tell the difference, so developing a protocol for such situations is important.

Here are two things to consider:

1. Are the bugs on the ceiling and other abnormal places more than in the bed or nightstands?
2. Has the customer reported bats in the attic or crawlspace?

If the answer to either of the above is yes, it’s time to get a sample and confirm identification. The easiest way to determine you are dealing with a bat bug is hairs on the pronotum, a part of the thorax. Bat bugs hairs are longer, measuring around 0.1875 to 0.25 of an inch in length. Take a close-up photo, zoom in or use a microscope, and compare it to a closeup image of a bed bug.

<p>The post Develop a protocol to help determine if you are combating bed bugs or bat bugs first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>

from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/10/11/develop-a-protocol-to-help-determine-if-you-are-combating-bed-bugs-or-bat-bugs/
Sacramento CA