Handling Mystery Bite Situations
You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into an entomological land whose boundaries are only that of the imagination. The signpost up ahead marks your next stop, the Bed Bug Mystery Bite Zone . . .
This article will discuss mystery bite situations and how these situations may be successfully handled in the field in consideration of both the consumer and the pest professional perspective.
The Bite Victim’s Perspective . . .
First, let’s look at you, the bed bug victim’s side of this scenario. You know you’re being bitten and you believe that it’s bed bugs. Maybe you’ve even had a confirmed bed bug infestation in your home where physical evidence of bed bugs was found and identified by a qualified pest professional. The bed bug control work was done and it’s been weeks, if not months, since you’ve seen a live bed bug but, now you’re experiencing bites and you can’t find any physical evidence of live bed bugs.
Under such circumstances it’s common that the bed bug victim customer calls the pest professional company who did the bed bug control work to come back to re-inspect the house. They perform an inspection and can’t find anything no matter how many times they inspect but the bites keep happening. As a bed bug victim, you begin to feel that all is lost and you’ll never get your normal life back again.
But that’s not the flavor of this story. No, you’re experiencing bites but you can’t find any evidence of bed bugs. You’ve had multiple pest professionals inspect your home and they’ve not found anything either. However, the bite experience persists and you’re sure there’s a pest problem. No matter what pest professional you call, no one can find any evidence of a biting pest and none will provide a pesticide application in your house because they can’t find any pests. To add insult to injury, some of the less than optimally professional folks have implied that these bugs and bites “are all in your head”. Under this scenario, you’re pretty much left to fend for yourself so, what do you do?
Some folks go online, learn some stuff about bed bugs and decide to self-treat using various methodologies and products espoused by individuals whose expertise range runs the gamut from dubious at best, to questionable product marketers, even to top flight type pest professionals. The problem is that doing these treatments does not stop the bites and the bites keep happening.
The Pest Professional’s Perspective . . .
Generally speaking, pest professionals are experienced and licensed professionals who are regulated by their State Department of Agriculture, or a department thereof, in the State(s) where they operate. In addition to the pesticide labels, the regulations under which licensed pest professionals must operate and comply are relatively strict.
For the most part, your pest professional intends to do the best job he or she can for you however, we must remember that their actions may be limited due to product labels, limited resources and regulatory requirements imposed upon them.
Usually, licensed pest professionals will not conduct a pesticide application at a structure when pest activity has not been confirmed by physical evidence. In other words, if they can’t find bed bugs, they may not be willing to apply pesticides within your home even though you want them to. That this occurs can be a frustrating point of contention for bed bug and mystery bite victims but, from an Industry perspective, this is an understandable position for the licensed professional to take due to the related potential liabilities with failure to comply with regulations.
He Said – She Said . . .
So, there you are experiencing bites. At this point in time, we’re calling them Mystery Bites because we’re not sure what’s biting you and/or if, in fact, you’re actually being bitten. You’ve called pest pros to inspect your house and your house has been inspected a number of times but, the inspectors can’t find physical evidence of what may be biting you yet you’re still experiencing bites. You’re saying you’re being bitten and he’s saying he cannot find anything that’s biting you.
It can certainly become a frustrating conundrum. What to do, what to think; what to think indeed. Your pest gal/guy seems like a nice, honest guy/gal. You want to believe her/him but you’re being bitten and they can’t find anything. It seems like they’ve done a good job for you but, how do you know? They’ve inspected everywhere but haven’t found any pests which may be biting you. They put out sticky traps, bed bug traps and inspected multiple times and have found nothing. You find that you’re in a place where you don’t know what to think or who to believe. Where do you turn for the correct information and what information do you need to proceed?
Solving a Mystery Bug Bite Situation; Nothing New Under the Sun !
When attempting to solve mystery bite situations one of the first things we need to consider is what’s possible. We need to know what are the possible ectoparasites, the pests which remain on the exterior of the host’s body upon which they feed, that may be biting us. Believe it or not, there’s nothing new under the sun. In other words, entomologists and experienced and well-trained pest professionals, already know the possible critters that may possibly bite and feed upon humans.
Remember that a bite is inflicted by the animal’s mouth parts whereas a sting is caused by a specialized structure which may inject venom. As such, bites are different than stings for various reasons.
Possible insects which may bite humans include Hemipterans such as bed bugs and other Cimicidae species, kissing bugs, pirate bugs and water bugs, Dipterans include biting flies and mosquitoes, other biting insects include fleas, lice, psocids and thrips. Arthropods, i.e. non-insects, which may bite humans include centipedes, mites (bird mites, rat mites and others), spiders and ticks. There are multiple species which are included in the aforementioned groups which may bite humans. And there are other insects, such as beetle larvae, which may cause bite like skin reactions.
The overall point is that experienced and knowledgeable pest professionals, already know the list of the usual suspects. We also need to recognize that while some of these critters may be able to bite humans, that the incidence of such bites may be unusual as in the case of, say, a giant water bug which is capable of inflicting a painful bite.
In addition to those arthropods which are capable of biting, there are some species which may cause a bite like reaction. For example, the setae, or hairs, on beetle larvae may cause such reactions. These reactions occur when their spear shaped hairs contact human skin where they may enter and irritate pores.
How to Inspect for Bed Bugs and Other Biting Pests
While we know what to look for and “who”, i.e. what pests we’re looking for, it is equally, if not more important, to know how to properly and thoroughly inspect for biting pests. Inspecting for and successfully finding the source of Mystery Bites can be a significant challenge. Is it bed bugs? Is it something else? What might it possibly be causing the bites? Where should I look? How should I look? All are pertinent questions which should be adequately considered when conducting such inspections.
We also need to recognize that there are two times when inspecting for and finding bed bugs is the most difficult; at the beginning of the infestation when there are few bed bugs present and near the end of the infestation when there are few remaining due to the elimination work which has been conducted.
Finding the Cause of Mystery Bites
One of your customers is reporting being bitten. It’s your job to figure out what’s going on and solve this problem. What will you do and how will you do it?
This is a challenge faced by both pest professionals and bite victims on a daily basis. What experienced and competent pest professionals do is arm themselves with knowledge and a viable plan which they can follow to solve these sorts of problems. The plan should be both logical and entomologically sound. By entomologically sound, we mean that the biology, behavior and other characteristics of the target pest must be suitably considered when doing this work.
A key factor in the previous sentence is the term target pest. In this situation the expected biting pest is bed bugs but it might not be. An entomologically sound approach would require that the inspection and investigation work suitably consider the biology and behavior of the biting pest. As such, if we’re inspecting for bed bugs then we need to inspect for the telltale signs of bed bugs in the locations where bed bugs usually are found. As most pest professionals know, bed bug harborages are usually located in close proximity to where their host sleeps. A logical and entomologically sound inspection approach would include the bed and/or locations where the host is being bitten during their rest and radiate out from such locations such as the mattress, box spring, head board, foot board, night stand, sofa, recliner chair, and other such items.
As previously explained, pest professionals are looking to confirm the presence of pest activity prior to conducting pesticide applications. We cannot confirm the presence of pest activity based upon bites alone. The telltale signs of bed bug activity include fecal stains, eggs, shed skins, live bed bugs and carcasses.
Being methodical and thorough is important when conducting such inspections. For example, it is not sufficient to only inspect the bed mattress when inspecting a bed for bed bugs. Inspections of beds should include the entire mattress, the box spring and bed frame. The dust cover should be removed from the underside of the box spring such that the inner wood surfaces may be observed for inspection as well.
Suppose the inspection effort was sufficiently thorough but bed bugs weren’t found. What are we to think? If this happens there are a number of factors which must be considered. One of these factors are the bed bug fecal matter or fecal stains. The truth is that these fecal stains do not move and are not purposefully attempting to hide from a human during the inspection process. Additionally, a fed bed bug will deposit about one fecal stain per day. As such, with more bites that occur as time progresses, the more bed bug fecal stains there will be which are present to be found during an inspection.
Remember that we need to be entomologically sound when doing this work. If suspected bites are reportedly occurring but we’re not able to find fecal stains then the lack of that physical evidence does not support that bed bug activity is actually happening. At this point we need to consider “what else is possible.”
This means we need to consider what might be happening under these conditions. Such possibilities include: 1) We’ve not inspected in the correct locations such that we missed finding them and we need to inspect further. 2) The customer is not being bitten. 3) The customer is being bitten by a pest other than bed bugs. The challenge now is to work to resolve this mystery, but how?
The Usual Suspects . . .
As previously notes, well-educated, trained and experienced pest professionals already know the usual suspect species. Arthropods which may bite humans are well documented in the pest management Industry and related reference literature. Even though some of these species may be tiny and difficult to see, these ectoparasites are visible to the unaided human provided adequate vision. Other than bed bugs or bat bugs, suspect biting ectoparasites may include fleas, various fly species, kissing bugs, lice, mites, mosquitoes, spiders and ticks.
The biology and behavior of each of these tiny animals is known and must be considered when attempting to resolve mystery bite type situations. Monitors, traps and vacuums may be used to find physical clues of the pest species. Experienced pest professionals who adopt a logical process of investigative elimination optimize their success in resolving such pest related problems in a timely and professional fashion.
What is important to remember for both the pest professionals and bite victims alike is that if there is a biting pest present, there will be physical evidence of such pests which should be found given suitably thorough inspection and analysis methodologies. If no physical evidence is found, the reason for the bite reactions is due to something other than a biting pest.