Bed bugs are small, parasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of animals and people. These reddish-brown, wingless pests are roughly the size of an apple seed and are difficult to eliminate once established. Understanding how bed bugs travel is the first step in assessing the actual risk of acquiring them from a short visit, such as simply walking into someone’s house.
Understanding How Bed Bugs Move
Bed bugs are wingless insects that cannot jump or fly, relying solely on crawling for active movement. They are capable of moving several feet per minute, but they typically spend their time hiding near a host’s resting area. This limits movement to the immediate vicinity of a bed, couch, or other place where people remain still for extended periods.
The primary way bed bugs spread is through passive transport, commonly known as hitchhiking. They latch onto personal belongings, using tiny hooks on their feet to grip surfaces like luggage, clothing, backpacks, and furniture. This allows them to travel from an infested environment to a new location.
These parasites are attracted to hosts primarily by the carbon dioxide exhaled during respiration, body heat, and certain human odors. They typically emerge from hiding spots to feed at night when a host is inactive. During the day, they retreat into dark, protected crevices, such as mattress seams, box springs, behind headboards, or within upholstered furniture.
Risk Factors for Brief Exposure
The likelihood of acquiring bed bugs from merely walking into a home is low. Risk correlates directly with the duration of your stay and the proximity of your belongings to harborage sites. A brief passage through a hallway or standing in a kitchen, far from resting areas, presents minimal risk. Bed bugs are not usually wandering in open, high-traffic areas during the day unless the infestation is severe.
Risk increases significantly when you spend time in areas where bed bugs hide, such as bedrooms or living rooms with upholstered furniture. Sitting on a sofa or armchair for an extended period increases the chance of a bug latching onto your clothing. While the pests do not live on humans, they will cling to fabric temporarily to find a new hiding spot.
Placing coats, bags, or other personal items on beds, floors next to furniture, or directly on an infested surface poses the highest risk. Bed bugs can quickly crawl into the seams, folds, or pockets of these items, using them as a vehicle to travel. Attachment requires proximity and time for the pest to crawl onto your item.
Immediate Prevention and Inspection Steps
If you suspect you have been in a potentially infested environment, take immediate steps to prevent bringing hitchhikers into your home. The most effective action is to inspect and decontaminate all carried items and clothing before entering your living space.
Visually inspect personal items, paying close attention to seams, folds, zippers, and pockets of bags and outerwear. Look for the actual insects, which are the size of an apple seed, or for small, dark reddish-brown fecal spots. If possible, remove your outer layer of clothing outside and place it immediately into a sealed plastic bag.
High heat is the most reliable method for killing bed bugs and their eggs. Upon returning home, any clothing worn or carried should be placed directly into a clothes dryer on the highest heat setting. Items must be tumbled at a temperature above 118 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 30 minutes to ensure eradication.
Items that cannot be placed in the dryer, such as shoes, purses, or delicate fabrics, should remain sealed in a heavy-duty plastic bag for several months. Alternatively, they can be treated with a portable heat chamber. Isolating and treating exposed items immediately eliminates potential stragglers before they establish an infestation.