A. Because of the resurgence of the bedbug as an important public health pest and its related national media attention, there has been a lot of confusion as to how they move about. Let me start by saying that if you live in a single-family home, they will not show up by themselves on your doorstep. In other words, they will not invade your home from the outdoors, like you may have experienced with household ants. If, on the other hand you share a duplex or live in some other multi-unit dwelling where an active infestation is occurring, then bedbugs can certainly migrate from surrounding apartments into your dwelling. I’ve often seen them in hallways and a tenant told me once that she watched one crawling toward her in her kitchen while she was speaking on the phone. It had simply walked down the hall and had slipped under the door to her apartment. I must admit that incident is pretty creepy, but it did eventually lead us to the unit where the infestation had begun.

So, migration is one method that bedbugs can find there way into your dwelling under certain scenarios. Keep in mind that these insects have a highly developed relationship with their human hosts that probably pre-dates the beginnings of recorded history! But that still does not explain how they are able to get around so easily in today’s modern society. The first few reports I remember hearing about bedbugs re-emerging once again as a serious pest involved infestations in very expensive hotels in large Northeastern cities. They have perfected the art of hitchhiking and the stowaway. These insects are traveling with people in luggage and other personal belongings.