DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — It started with a few red welts, about the size of mosquito bites, that itched like crazy.

Within two weeks, the few bites turned to many, and that's when Lakesia Beavers discovered she had a real problem in her Trotwood apartment: bed bugs — those creepy, tiny, six-legged insects that hide during the day and feast on your blood at night.

"My kids were getting eaten up real bad," said Beavers, who has since left her apartment complex in a dispute with management over who was at fault for the bugs.

Beavers and her children aren't alone. Bed bugs, once thought to be wiped out a half-century ago, are making a comeback across the country. Theories vary, but experts attribute the resurgence to a rise in international travel and the elimination of pesticides such as DDT.

"In Dayton, it was a pretty odd thing to get a call (on bed bugs) three years ago," said Tony Bohnert, an entomologist and technical specialist with the pest control company Terminix. "Now, between our two offices, we're getting 10 to 15 calls a month."

At Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County, officials said they're getting at least two calls a week from residents complaining about the critters.

"We have seen an increase across the county," said Mark Case, Public Health's environmental health director. "Most of the cases are coming from multifamily locations, apartment complexes generally."

Contrary to popular perception, bed bugs are equal opportunity parasites. They like habitats both dirty and clean, and the more people the better. They migrate easily from one abode to another, and they're tough to eliminate.