They are everywhere on mattresses, on public transport, in cinemas and even in the media, but can bedbugs cling to our hair like lice? Experts respond.
They give us an irrepressible urge to scratch and they have been everywhere around us since the start of the 2023 school year. Bedbugs are pests that have clearly stolen the spotlight from lice this year. And for good reason, according to a published reportpublished by Anses, almost 11% of French households have been infected by bedbugs over the last five years. Faced with the general panic generated by these pests which have invaded the most incongruous places in our homes and even certain Parisian hotels where the stars sleep during Fashion Week as suggested by a photo posted by model Adriana Lima on Instagram, we end up wondering if we are not going to catch them just by leaving our hair loose in a subway, a train or a bus, or even if these little creatures that make life impossible can find refuge in our hair defects.
We conducted our investigation on the sites of companies specializing in pests who know how to help us get rid of them to finally get to the bottom of it. Rest assured, their answer seems unanimous: it’s not possible. According to the EDNa pest extermination company: “NO. Bedbugs do not live in hair or fur.”. And after Echotech 3Danother company expert in pest control, this would indeed not be the case: “If you suspect the presence of bedbugs in your hair, rest assured! This insect, barely larger than an apple seed, does not lay eggs or stay in the hair (or fur) of its victims.. As for Bedbugs.frthe site explains that certainly, “Bed bugs can go into hair, but it’s not really their choice. We witness this when she falls from the ceiling directly into the hair”. Suffice to say that there is little chance of this happening to you unless you are infested at home.
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Bedbugs: here’s why you’re not likely to find them in your hair according to experts
Although they look a lot like lice, bed bugs are nothing like them. Firstly, they are photophobic, which means that your head is exposed to too much light for them to find sufficient comfort to settle there. As for whether a bedbug could find its way from a train seat to your hair, the EDN specifies that “the anatomy of bedbugs does not allow them to jump or fly”. Additionally, even if one of its pests were to accidentally end up in your strands, the pest expert points out that “Unlike lice, the legs of these nocturnal pests are unsuitable for clinging to hair and fur, because they have neither hooks nor claws. It’s also not easy for bed bugs to move through human hair because their bodies don’t slide easily. When you move, your body and hair move too. This environment is too unstable for bedbugs”.
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