The last thing that anyone needs and wants to deal with are bed bugs because they are a task and half to remove, and when you start seeing bites on your body that are itchy, you cannot help but wonder if you may have bed bugs. That is especially if you are not in areas where you are often bit by insects such as mosquitos. If you suspect that you have bed bugs, you need to have a professional come out and examine your bed and that is the only way you will know if eggs are detected.
What Attracts Bed Bugs?
If your sheets are not cleaned enough or are cleaned too often, that does not attract bed bugs. If you have a lot of clutter in your room, or if it is usually warm, then that is something that these creatures like in addition to carbon dioxide. Therefore, if your room is not well ventilated then that can be another cause for attraction. However, even if your room has all of those characteristics, then you may not necessarily need to worry if your bedsheets are usually white, blue, yellow, or green – or most other colors. If your bedsheets are either red or black, then that can be problematic because bed bugs like those colors and will become attracted to them as well.
Why Do Bed Bugs Like Red Or Black?
Researchers conducted a study to determine what colors bed bugs are the most attracted to and according to the Journal of Medical Entomology, the conclusions were that bed bugs preferred black or red. Red is the color that bed bugs love the most. What happened was that researchers took Petri dishes and placed small pieces of cardstock in eight colors. They dropped a bed bug in the middle of it and had to make a decision in ten minutes to find the cardstock to hide under and it chose two colors which were red and black.
After further studies, researchers find that bed bugs choose red about 29 percent of the time meaning that it is a sign there are other bed bugs located there too. Why do bed bugs prefer red? Could it be that it is the color of blood that is what they eat? That was not the answer that they concluded and they found that bed bugs preferred red because that is the color of bed bugs, themselves. That is because they want to be with other bed bugs so they choose the color that represents their own color and that is why they like to hide underneath your red sheets. But what about black?
Scientists find that bed bugs choose black about 23 percent of the time and the reason for that is bed bugs naturally look for darkness. That is because these creatures are nocturnal and they will hide in the mattress corners as well as other nooks and crannies before feasting on blood.
Therefore, you may not want to get red or black bedsheets. Instead, the bedsheets to get are of any other color -especially yellow and green!
Why Is It In Your Best Interest To Get Yellow Or Green Bedsheets?
Bed bugs are repelled the most by yellow and green since scientists have found that they dislike those colors the most. It likely has to do with the fact they are too bright for these bugs and they do not like anything that is bright and lit. You don’t need to toss away your red and black sheets if your room is on the cooler side and uncluttered, but you may want to stick with using the colors that bed bugs don’t like to keep at bay.
