People are fending off bed bugs by sleeping with the lights on hoping to avoid getting bit with the assumption that bed bugs only bite at night. These bugs live a very sheltered life. They hide in cracks and crevices during the day and come out to feed on human blood at night. So if the creatures only feed at night, wouldn’t it only make sense to trick the pests into thinking it was day all the time by sleeping with the lights on? I mean if you think about it, seems like a simple, immediate, logical solution to the problem. I researched endlessly for a source that described the behavior of these bugs to strike during the day. The experts, like Richard Cooper with bedbugcentral.com, all say the same thing, “Bed bugs are nocturnal insects and lead a very cryptic lifestyle.” The bugs only come out at night. This left me with a lot of questions. We have all flicked on a light switch in a room and seen a spider or cockroach scurry out of sight. Bed bugs must be sensitive to light, right?
Right, they are sensitive to light. But wrong if you think it will stop them from biting you. If you have bed bugs and it’s time for them to feed they will do whatever it takes to get a meal even if it means crawling into bright light to get it. It is suggested however that they are more sensitive to extreme temperatures, not light. Now heat is a byproduct of light in most cases so that could be the real reason why bed bugs come out at night. It is not because it’s bright but because they cannot risk crawling into hot direct sunlight. It does correlate, for some experts suggest putting all your belongings in large plastic bags and placing them in direct sunlight for hours to help kill them. It is also suggested to wash things in very hot water and then dried on high following. Steam devices are hot on the market right now with the high heat approach to removing the nasty bugs.
It does seem at this point that these bugs are sensitive to heat. Heat can be a means to remove these pests. It’s a safe method as well because it keeps harmful chemicals out of the house. Chemical s are dangerous and can be avoided when eradicating an infestation. Lots of natural bed bug products have surfaced in the past couple years. Some companies have even developed a travel bed bug spray for weary travelers to use in hotels and cabs.
Can keeping the lights on stop bed bugs from biting you? Unfortunately the answer is no. When the bugs are hungry, they eat. Until someone invents some futuristic light saber to fend off these critters we are all stuck using good old prevention tactics. Regarding the war on bed bugs, knowledge is power.