Where You’ll Find Bed Bugs

Most people think of bed bugs lurking in hotel rooms, public transit, or movie theaters. In reality, bed bugs can be found lurking in apartments, homes, work facilities, schools, stores, and just about anywhere humans gather together. According to the "Bugs without Borders" study, 89 percent of pest control workers report treating bed bug infestations in single-family homes, while 88 percent report treating bed bug infestations in apartments. They also report treating other common areas, like movie theaters, laundry facilities, transportation units, college dormitories, and a whopping 67 percent in hotels/motels.

If you’re worried about bed bugs in your own home, though, you have to be thorough in your search.

As per their survival instinct, bed bugs can hide just about anywhere. The best time to search for them is at night, though, since they tend to sleep during the day time. They’ll sneak into your mattress or box springs, and they can also be found in baseboards, behind electrical switch plates, in picture frames, behind wallpaper, or even in books.

The reason bed bugs are, well, bed bugs, is that they like to feed on our blood. They’ve evolved to seek out the carbon dioxide we exhale, especially when we stay in one place for extended periods, like our beds.