When the winter months arrive, you probably start thinking of hibernating bugs and animals. The ant mounds aren’t active, and the bees aren’t swarming when it’s cold outside. With so many insects and animals hibernating during the winter, you may be wondering if bed bugs spend the winter months hibernating. Interestingly, bugs like bees, mosquitos, and bed bugs don’t hibernate during the winter, especially if they can find a nice warm place to nest.
What are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs may be the ultimate annoying pest. They live where you sleep and relax, feasting on your blood. They don’t carry diseases, but their bites can cause allergic reactions and skin damage. Bed bugs do not hibernate during the winter months, but they cycle down into a low-energy state called diapause. This low-energy state pauses development until it’s warm again. Even with many insects like bed bugs going into a diapause state, if you have an infestation in your home, you may notice they are just as active as usual. Because homes are warm, bed bugs are unlikely to ever slow down their instinctual processes if you have an infestation.
Do Cold Conditions Keep Bed Bugs from Spreading?
Bed bugs don’t need optimal temperature conditions to spread. They move through human movement. They attach themselves to the clothes, shoes, and luggage used when traveling to hotels and airports. Even if you don’t notice bedbugs when you leave, they could have laid eggs on your luggage or clothing. Travelers unknowingly help bed bugs travel to new places every day. Even if you leave your luggage in cold conditions while you travel, it takes many days of extreme cold to kill bed bugs. They are extremely tolerant of cold temperatures, so If you’re worried bed bugs have followed you home, the cold winter weather won’t stop the spread.
Contact the pest control experts at Anytime Pest Elimination today! We can get the bed bugs out for good. Call (832) 662-2411 immediately to schedule service.