Bed bug season is here; here's how to avoid unwanted bloodsucking houseguests this summer

While there isn't exactly a bed bug season, experts say the bloodsucking pests thrive during warmer summer months.

With more trips away from home often planned for warmer weather, it's more important than ever to check mattresses, sheets, and other bedding to avoid bringing back unwanted houseguests.

Here's what to know about bed bugs and how to keep them from hitching a ride home during your summer vacation.

What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are nocturnal bloodsuckers who prefer to feed on humans. N.C.-based A-1 Pest Control offers some parameters for identifying bed bugs: They are no bigger than the size of an apple seed and have flat or pill-shaped bodies. Color can range from milky white when the insects first hatch to tan and reddish-brown as they grow.

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Where do bed bugs live?

Despite the name, bed bugs don't just nest in beds. When checking for bed bugs, remember the crevices of walls and windows, behind wall hangings, and behind picture frames. A-1 PC says the insects can even climb into the holes of electrical outlets.

As for favorite locations in your bed, bed bugs can often be found in crevices and corners of mattresses and box springs and near the headboard and footboard.

Unfortunately, homes aren't the only places where bed bugs can be found—they can infest public transportation like trains, buses, and planes, as well as spaces like office buildings, hotels, and movie theaters. In short, any place with good hiding places and human blood could be a home for bedbugs.

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Can you see bed bugs with the naked eye? How to know if you have bed bugs

While bed bugs can be spotted with the naked eye, they're skilled hiders. Fortunately, however, bites aren't the only other way to tell that bed bugs are near.

First, A-1 Pest Control suggested keeping an eye out for stains and shedding - the presence of tiny, reddish-brown bugs about the size of apple seeds (or smaller) and their shed skins are, of course, one surefire sign that there's an infestation. Apart from the insects, a common visual clue of their presence is small, dark stains on sheets, pillows or mattresses. Reddish stains can also indicate crushed bed bugs.

The company's guide also mentioned that unexplained bites on your skin can sometimes indicate bed bugs, especially when found in clusters or lines. These bites can be itchy or cause mild allergic reactions. However, bites alone don't necessarily suggest bed bugs and A-1 PC suggests searching for other signs if you suspect a bed bug bite.

How to prevent bed bugs

The Columbus Dispatch, in a report, offered some advice on preventing bed bug infestations during summer travels. Suggestions included:

• Inspect any clothes or luggage you bring into your home.
• When staying at a hotel or Airbnb, unpack as little as possible and keep items out of wardrobes and off fabric surfaces.
• If you find signs of bugs during your stay, ask to be moved to another room that isn't adjacent to your old one.
• When you get back from travel, wash your clothes on high heat.
• Inspect secondhand furniture, beds, and bedding thoroughly before bringing them inside. Any furniture or items you pick up off the street are at an increased risk of bed bug infestation.

To prevent bed bugs in your home, the Dispatch offered these suggestions:

• Caulk exterior cracks and crevices to prevent bugs from entering.
• Frequent vacuuming and washing of bedding and clothes on high heat can prevent bed bugs or kill them before the infestation can spread.

Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.