Bed bugs are a serious problem and no one wants to see their presence. Especially when you are spending time with your family.
These bugs can live in places you may not have heard of for example “movie theaters”.
Can Bed Bugs Live In a Movie Theaters?
Several pesticide companies have found further evidence that bed bugs can live in movie theaters. There are many conditions that a movie theater allows for bed bugs to live there easily, such as lots of potential hosts, carbon dioxide, and places to lay eggs to grow the population.
These bugs are not visible to the naked eye, but they can be through blacklight or ultraviolet flashlight. Plus, they are often found on seats, walls, and floors of theaters.
How Do Bed Bugs Get Into Movie Theaters?
Bed bugs can enter the theater only from people whose clothes and belongings are already infected.
When it comes to spotting for bed bugs, people usually take clothing and accessories lightly, making these bugs grow faster and travel from one place to another.
It is safe if someone only carries one or two male bed bugs because male bugs can’t lay eggs without female bugs, stopping the infestation.
However, it is very dangerous if someone accidentally carries a male and female or pregnant bed bug because one female can lay up to 500 eggs within one lifetime.
Why Do They Infest Movie Theaters?
Many people think bed bugs only infest a person’s house, mostly their bed.
They are partially correct. But, the truth is they can invade any place. They can even infest your car, public buses, trains, and even in movies theater.
Many other factors indicate that these bugs invade a location.
Bed bugs prefer places where they can find regular blood meals. And a movie theater is the best place for these bugs.
There are many conditional that allow bed bugs to infest movie theaters.
Unlimited Host
Bed bugs only live on human blood, and the movie theater offers a lot of potential hosts.
When your movie starts, your mind is focused only on the bug screen, which gives much time for these bugs to suck blood.
Whenever we do any work, our mind is busy, like studying or watching a show. Sometimes we forget what is happening to us.
And this is something that bed bugs are looking for. They look for opportunities and start sucking blood from you.
Scientists also believe that these tiny insects inject a chemical that acts as an anesthetic.
In the end, you may see a slight bump after being bitten by these bugs.
Too Many Places To Hide
Bed bugs have a tiny and oval body; their body shape is also very slim, which helps them to hide in unseen places.
A movie theater is filled with many fabric pits, chairs, and corners that give bugs a great place to hide.
These bugs will often hide in the stitches gaps, pipings, and chairs arms.
Bugs can also hide inside seats in theaters.
They avoid light, so once you get into your reserved seat, you may experience some annoying bites as they bite in the dark.
Bed Bugs Like Carbon Dioxide
Bed bugs are attracted by carbon dioxide because we breathe in oxygen and breath out CO2 through our lungs. We exhale more carbon dioxide than we live in.
That is how these bugs find you when you are sleeping.
Safest Place To Grow Population
Female bed bugs prefer different places to lay their eggs, and movie theaters provide them with an ideal place to lay their eggs.
As we mentioned, bed bugs avoid light, and anteaters are entirely dark so that no one can see these eggs.
Also, many theater owners or management teams do not care about sensitization to their movie theater, giving these bugs the advantage of multiplying.
They never call for a bed bugs inspection as it is costly.
Smell Of People
One more reason why bed bugs are attracted to a movie theater is the human smell.
Thermal heat and odor from the human body or clothes help these bugs to find a host.
Due to low hygiene levels, people’s scent stays on the chairs, which attracts these bugs repeatedly.
Bed bugs also differentiate between male and female insects because of their smell, but sometimes they are confused, which leads to homosexual sex.
How Common Are Bed Bugs In Movie Theaters?
Bed bugs are very tiny and can easily hide inside your stuff, so it is very common to find bed bugs in places like theaters, hotels, or libraries.
However, there are some places where the chance is low to find these bugs, e.g.:- basement, parking, and beaches.
It also depends where you live, like in cities with high populations, i.e., in big cities, bed bugs are more prevalent.
Places like New York City, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and similar have high infestation rates. Small towns in the Midwest are usually not affected by bed bugs.
Can Bed Bugs Bite You At A Movie Theater?
Bed bugs are always hungry and keep on biting. So if bed bugs infest the theater, then chances are very high that this bug will bite.
However, if you cover your body like your arms and legs with clothes, these bugs will have difficulties biting you.
Many people think that these bugs are photophobic means “They have a fear of light,” which is why they always bite in the theater.
How To Avoid Bed Bugs In A Movie Theater?
There are several proven ways to avoid bed bugs in a theater, like using the phone’s flashlight to check for signs of eggs, black and brown spots before sitting on the seats. It is also beneficial to use an alcohol-based spray to disinfect yourself and your surrounding seating area.
Cover Yourself
Covering yourself with clothes is the best way to stop bed bugs from biting you.
It’s very easy to avoid these bugs’ bites with this simple step of covering up arms, legs, and other body parts.
You can use long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, or jackets to cover your body.
Bed bugs can only bite your exposed skin; if your skin is covered by fabric, then it will be tough for these bugs to bite.
However, wearing more clothing can help these bed bugs to hide on your clothes and cause them to travel with you to your home.
Use Alcohol Spray
Alcohol spray is the best way to kill and prevent bed bugs anywhere, whether it’s in your bedroom or a movie theater.
They never come close to any smell that has alcohol.
If you don’t have an alcohol spray, you can use an excellent alcohol-based hand sanitizer or any other chemical that can kill these bugs. It will kill bed bugs and disinfect all the viruses like COVID-19.
They hate the smell of alcohol so you can spray it on your clothes as well.
Check For Theaters Review
You should always check for theater reviews on the internet. All you have to do is search for the theater you want to visit and click on the review button.
Bed bugs are a real problem, and people will talk about them if they have faced this problem in the past.
Reviews will help you avoid these bed bugs even before going to the theatre.
It can also help you find out about the environment and its sensitization.
You can also find out which movie theatre is safe to visit from your friend.
Wear Light-Color Clothes
Many people and scientists believe that these bugs are attracted to only dark colors and surfaces.
When I was dealing with bed bugs, I wore white pajamas and a T-shirt, which helped me a lot.
Light colors make adult bed bugs as fully visible to the human eye as dark brown.
However, Bed bugs nymphs look invisible in light and dark colors as they are whitish in color.
Check Bed Bugs On The Seat
Check your seat and surrounding to see for any bed bugs evidence. If you want to do your job quickly, use a UV flashlight.
Checking your seats can also help you to maintain hygiene in your surroundings.
There are also a lot of messy people who come into movie theaters, so checking your booked seats can help you find things like “chewed chewing gum, napkins, and leftover food.”.
Body Check
Before taking an exit from the movie theater, spend some time checking your body for bed bugs.
These bugs can’t live for a long time without food, so they usually hide in your clothes so that they can directly feed on your skin.
Bed bugs are usually found where people sit or stay longer, like in theaters.
If you feel any itchiness or rash on the skin, remove clothes and check for Bed bugs immediately.
Bed bugs can be easily distinguished by their oval, flat bodies, and small antennae.
Don’t Put Your Stuff On The floor.
As we said, these insects are attracted to the human smell, so the chances are high that they will be attracted to your clothes and bags.
Plus, if you put everything on the floor, it will be easier for bugs to find your stuff.
Bed bugs have six legs which makes them good runners and crawlers.
When these bugs want to move from one place to another, they always like to walk on the floor.
So don’t keep your bag on the floor. Bed bugs will crawl on your belongings and may go all the way to your home with you.
Put Your Clothes In A Plastic Bag
Before going home, check for bed bugs again in the theater or the washroom, then gently put your jacket, wallet, or other stuff into a ziplock plastic bag.
Putting bed bugs in plastic bags will not kill them, but it will restrict them from traveling from one place to another.
Take the plastic bag home and keep it in an isolated corner.
Bed bugs can also infest movie theater counters. Imagine that many other bags can be affected by these bugs that can move from one bag to another.
Don’t Forget To Wash.
After returning from theaters, don’t forget to wash your clothes and luggage with hot water.
Bed bugs can’t survive in the washing machines because they don’t know how to swim.
In addition, bed bug shells and eggs are very soft and squeezed out quickly, leaving stains on your clothes.
You can easily wash these strains in the washing machine; add a little detergent.
These are very dangerous for everyone, so keep your eyes open while going to theaters if you don’t want bed bugs to bite you during movie time at theaters.
Can You Sue Movie Theater For Bed Bugs
It is legal to file a complaint against a theater with bed bugs. However, the process is costly and lengthy. But it is a good citizen’s right to take action because bed bugs are a severe problem.
They are considered public health pests and will be charged a fine.
If you want to complain about these bugs in a movie theater, you need solid proof.
The most common way to prove the existence of bed bugs at theaters is by providing photos and witness statements.
If possible, take a picture with Bed Bugs on movie floors or seats. You might also need evidence from witnesses who saw bed bugs crawling on the seats.
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Hey, I am Chetan Kumar and I have a deep knowledge of bed bugs, flies, rats, roaches, and other notorious pests. So I thought let me help all of you so I created this amazing website called pestpedia.org. If you like this website, let me know with your comments. Till then enjoy…
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