Bat bugs look very similar to bed bugs and are often mistaken for them. A microscopic examination is needed to tell them apart. However, we have noticed that some colonies of bats that are located in attics throughout Southeastern Wisconsin carry these bugs. They have been known to make their way into your home to feed on humans! Effective control for bat bugs requires removal of the bat colony as well as pest control products being applied to their harborage areas (attic).
Bat bugs feed on all of the common bats in Wisconsin, but they are most frequently associated with the large and small brown bats, which roost in colonies. Although bats are their primary host, they can also feed on alternative hosts including birds and rodents.
Just like their insect friends the bed bug, bat bugs typically feed while the host is sleeping. Bat bugs pierce the skin with its extended mouth-parts, and it injects saliva as it probes for blood vessels and feeds on blood. Bat bugs will feed in 5-10 minute intervals.
Development from egg to adult may take up to 2 weeks in warm, favorable conditions. Bat bugs can have multiple generations within a year. Adult bat bugs may survive for a year or more without a meal in cool environments, but blood feeding is required by the female in order to produce eggs.
Bat bug bites are reportedly more painful than that of a bed bug, although most humans don’t ever feel the bite. Many people develop an allergic reaction to proteins in the injected saliva from the bat bug.
Advanced Wildlife and Pest Control Treatments for Bat Bugs:
The first step is riding your attic and home of the bats. The bat bugs feed on the bats and will most likely leave after their blood source has left. However on some occasions the bat bugs enter the home where the bats have been removed and a separate pest control treatment is advised. We are one of the few extermination companies in southeastern Wisconsin that can properly remove the bats and spray for the bat bugs!