"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

You probably know the saying, but you should also know these little pests are making their way back into South Dakota in a big way.

Pest control experts say you shouldn't be surprised to see these little pests crawling around beds in this area. The number of bed bug cases has doubled from last year and it looks like the problem will only get worse before it gets better.

Justin Bosma owns a branch of P & K Pest Control here in Sioux Falls and in the last year alone, his number of bed bug cases has doubled.

"I mean we're not just talking about a little bit. They're probably going to be the number one problem in insects, I think, in the next few years," said Justin Bosma, branch owner of P&K Pest Control in Sioux Falls.  

About a quarter inch long and reddish brown in color, bed bugs bite and leave red swollen marks on the skin. They get their name from the location they hide: typically in bedrooms in the warm crevasses of your mattress. And once they've found their way, they're hard to get rid of.

"We can do a thorough spray.  Spray every square inch of this room and there might be bed bugs that are hiding underneath the carpet, between your foam pad and that carpet, that are just waiting for the spray to wear off before they come back out again," stated Bosma.  

They haven't always been around. Thanks to the chemicals used in the 1960's, bedbugs were nearly extinct. Those chemicals are now banned. And the bugs began making migrating back to the U.S. a few years ago through international travel.

Bedbugs are great hitchhikers. They easily hop onto luggage without notice. That's why it's important to be careful, no matter how nice the hotel or apartment you stay in. Because once they're in, Bosma says the problem can only get worse.

Bosma said, "Basically they're in one apartment area and the people don't notice them right away because generally you don't see them and a lot of people think they're spider bites or whatever.  But they can spread from apartment to apartment very rapidly."

So how can you try to keep these things out of your home?

If you have the slightest suspicion about a hotel or apartment you've stayed at, Bosma suggests steam cleaning your suitcase before you even bring it inside and washing your clothes in hot water. You have to make sure it's hot or these things wont die.