The bedbug (lat. Cimex Lectularius) is a type of bedbug, an obligate synanthropic blood-sucking insect, an ectoparasite of humans and warm-blooded animals, feeding only on blood. It is called “bed” because its favorite habitat is the human bed. The second unofficial name for these parasites is “room bugs”; They are called so because of their direct dependence on a person and his home. Belongs to a type of arthropod from the class of insects, the order Hemiptera, they cannot fly.
Let's consider the characteristics of bedbugs, their lifestyle and impact on humans, as well as methods of combating this domestic parasite.
What does a bed bug look like?
The appearance of a bedbug is characterized primarily by a flattened body, which helps it get between fabric folds without the risk of being crushed by a person. The length of the bug is from 3 to 8.5 mm, depending on gender and blood saturation; females are larger in size than males. Body color ranges from dark brown to dirty beige and even rusty.
In addition to the proboscis for piercing the skin, the bug has sharp bristles for secreting anesthetic saliva into the bite site.
Photo of a bug under a microscope. A proboscis emerges from the front of the head to pump out blood.
Bedbugs are most active at night, especially when they are hungry. A well-fed bedbug increases in size, becomes less agile and more vulnerable; it is the well-fed, crushed bedbugs that leave blood marks on the pillowcase.
Traces of blood may remain on the pillowcase if you crush a well-fed bug in a dream.
Bed bug lifestyle
The bug leads a parasitic nocturnal lifestyle; both females and males with larvae feed on blood. The main time for an attack on a sleeping person is from 3 to 8 am. During the day, these insects hide in the mattress, under the wallpaper, behind the baseboards, in books, in clothes and beds. During the day they come out into the light extremely rarely, only in case of severe hunger. They are able to move from one room to another through ventilation systems, as well as along walls both inside and outside the apartment. The speed at which an adult bedbug travels 1 meter is 1 minute.
Bedbugs have a well-developed sense of smell, which helps them find victims and places of shelter. For example, they can smell the clothes you wear most often, such as a dressing gown, and hide in it.
What do bed bugs eat?
Bed bugs feed exclusively on blood. They do not need water and food to live, like cockroaches. Not only females drink blood (like mosquitoes), but also males with larvae.
An adult can drink up to 7 mg of blood at a time, and a larva can drink less than 1 mg. Parasites feed approximately once a week. If a person is not nearby, they can bite cats, dogs, rodents and even birds.
How long do bed bugs live?
The average lifespan of a bed bug is 1 year. In extreme situations, for example, in the event of a sudden cold snap or a person leaving the apartment for a long time, they can fall into a state of hibernation and spend more than a year in it.
At what temperature do bedbugs die?
Temperature at which bedbugs and their clutches die: +50˚С (temperature must be maintained for at least 10 minutes).
Negative temperature at which a colony of bedbugs dies along with their eggs: -25˚С (the temperature must be maintained for at least 2 hours). Frost down to -10˚C is practically not scary for bedbugs; they simply hibernate.
Comfortable temperature for bed bugs to live and reproduce: +20-30˚С. This is the temperature maintained in apartments and private houses.
Habitat
This species has a very wide habitat. It can be found throughout the territory, from the Arctic Circle to tropical forests. It inhabits all of temperate Eurasia and northern Africa, and it has also been introduced to North America. In Russia it is present throughout the territory.
What does it eat?
Red bugs and their larvae consume cell sap, using their proboscis to pierce the hard shell of the leaf and gain access to the nutritious sap, without disdaining any plant growing in the garden. It also comes with the seeds and fruits of some trees and shrubs. In rare cases, the wingless red bug can feast on the corpses of small invertebrates and even resort to cannibalism.
Reproduction and development of bed bugs
Mating of bedbugs occurs through traumatic insemination: the male pierces the female’s abdomen with his genitals and injects seminal fluid there. After a couple of weeks, the female begins to lay eggs, up to 5 eggs per day. Over the course of her life, a female can lay 250 to 500 eggs.
The development of an insect from an egg to the adult stage takes 30-40 days, and under difficult conditions (for example, at low temperatures) up to 100 days. The larvae immediately begin to look for food, they need to drink a whole portion of blood in order to move to the next stage of development and undergo molting.
When does the insect appear and where does it live?
Usually the soldiers appear as soon as the sun melts patches of snow to the ground, but here and there there is still crust, and in the thawed patch the soldiers are already scurrying around, huddled together. The primary habitat of the soldier is Eurasia, and the European continent is most preferable for him.
Interesting . The pest, although it is very similar to a beetle and has the closest structure to it, will not fly up like a ladybug from your finger, but rather crawl down and go down to the ground or simply fall - it cannot fly at all, individuals of any age have this possibility deprived.
Larva of the soldier bug. © Genealogist
Mating of soldier bugs
Differences between bedbugs and other insects in the house
Male bedbugs also feed on blood, although in some insect species only females feed on blood in order to be able to reproduce.
Bed bugs are often confused by name with bed dust mites. Dust mites are very small and cannot bite through human skin; they live in pillows and other parts of furniture. They feed on microscopic particles of skin that fall off our bodies. It is unlikely that you will be able to see a dust mite with the naked eye, but it still causes harm: a person can develop an allergy from its waste products, which is confirmed by tests, and this is what is written in the diagnosis “dust mite allergy.”
Dust mite under a microscope
Unlike ants, bedbugs do not build nests and do not form colonies; they prefer to randomly accumulate near a food source, usually near the place where a warm-blooded living creature spends the night. Ants do not feed on human blood, but can only bite in defense.
Unlike fleas, bedbugs are larger in size and cannot jump. Traces of their vital activity are easier to detect than to understand that there are fleas in the apartment. Scars from flea bites most often appear on the legs, in contrast to marks from bedbugs, which can also cover the upper body.
Features of the wingless red bug
From the beginning of the onset of warmth until autumn, on sunny areas of land near trees or bushes, you can see streams of red or orange insects with a black pattern. Moreover, some of them are funny coupled with each other like a steam locomotive with a carriage. This could be a brief description of the soldier bug. This beetle differs from other insects in its rounded, flat body and the absence of hind wings, so it does not fly.
This beetle is equipped with a thin, sharp proboscis. Therefore, it can feed not only on the pulp of plants, but also on the sap of trees. Its diet includes seeds, fallen fruits and small weeds. Among cultivated plants, the beetle prefers cabbage, beets and legumes, and does not disdain strawberries. The bug also feeds on other insects, sucking out the liquid inside them with its proboscis, but this is rare, although there are cases of cannibalism.
This insect reproduces quickly. The female leaves up to 30 eggs per clutch. They make nests in inconspicuous places: in leaves, tissues of plant shoots or tree trunks. The larvae, hatch after 1.5 weeks, differ little in appearance from adult insects, only smaller in size.
How to determine that there are bedbugs in an apartment?
It is not difficult to determine the presence of bedbugs in a private house, apartment or dorm room; pay attention to the following signs of their presence:
- Black dots on the mattress, sheets, under the pillow - dark-colored bedbug feces that look like traces of a black pen or felt-tip pen. Make a light bed, this will make it easier for you to detect the presence of parasites, and the traces will be washed off.
- Eggs, full or empty, as well as fragments of the shell of the bedbug larva, which it sheds, moving to the next stage of development.
- Traces of multiple bites on the body. The bug bites not just once, but several times, so many bites will be noticeable on one area of the skin. You are unlikely to be able to feel the moment of the bite, because the bug injects a “painkiller” under the skin.
- A visual inspection of the bed at night will show whether there are bloodsuckers in it. Set your alarm for 5am, get up, turn on the lights, and examine your bedding.
Causes of bedbugs in the house
Many people think that bedbugs only grow in dirty, unkempt rooms, but this is not true. They are able to take root in any room, regardless of the sanitary situation. Where do they come from? List of main reasons:
- from neighbors who allowed unsanitary conditions in the apartment;
- from pets walking on the street;
- from a hotel or hostel, they can come home with you in a suitcase with clothes;
- from used furniture or equipment, purchased on Avito or brought from the trash.
Interestingly, bedbugs cannot independently move along the street from one private house to another. Therefore, if bedbugs have appeared in a private home, be sure that you brought them yourself on some things, furniture or clothing.
Is it possible to protect your home?
100% ways to protect homes from bedbugs have not yet been invented. They can enter the apartment through the hood or through cracks in the slabs. Of course, you can secure the ventilation grilles by covering them with a thick mesh and sealing the cracks. But no one is immune from “picking up” a bedbug in a hotel, public transport, or while visiting.
The only thing that can be protected is the bed and mattress. This can be done by using special traps and a protective cover of the HECTOR brand.
The traps have a rough outer surface that abruptly turns into a groove with smooth walls. Each of the bed legs should stand inside such a trap. Since bed bugs are insects that can only crawl, the only way into your bed is through the legs of the bed.
Protective mattress cover Hector It is a completely sealed cover with a micro-zipper. By putting it on the mattress, you will not allow bed bugs to settle inside, which means you will save it in case the apartment is infested with insects. The cover consists of two layers. The inner and most important one is made of a special membrane, ensuring 100% tightness, and the outer one is made of 100% cotton. It is important to note that the membrane of the inner layer breathes well and does not creak.
Also, if your sleeping place is already infested with insects, you can save the mattress, since by wearing such a cover, the bed bugs that are already inside will be “walled up” and they will not have access to food.
I've been sleeping on an air mattress for a couple of weeks now because of bedbugs.
I threw the sofa in the trash. An absolutely beautiful sofa that was only three years old. There was only one alternative - to remove all the upholstery and find the nests, but it was cheaper to throw it away.
If bedbugs remain in the apartment, they will happily set up a colony in the new sofa (and new sofas can come from the factory with their own bedbugs - this happens). Therefore, a strategic decision was made to buy an air mattress for a while. If parasites are still living in the house, they will almost certainly soon be found under the mattress. But so far they are not visible, and the bites have finally passed. After I threw out the couch, I only caught a couple of bugs in the first two days - perhaps they came from the couch itself while I was tearing it apart and tearfully kicking it to get it into the elevator.
The war lasted all of August and now seems over, but I am not relaxing. A control treatment is planned for the near future - the room will already be devoid of baseboards and linoleum, just to be sure. And only then will I decide to add a new sofa to the house. I wish you never to face this misfortune!
Harm from bed bugs to humans and animals
In addition to irritation and redness of the skin, inflammation may also appear at the sites of bedbug bites if an infection occurs during resorption. Multiple bedbug bites can lead to the development of an allergic reaction and the appearance of a rash, as a result of which the affected skin will be very itchy and interfere with a full life.
There is an opinion that bedbugs carry dangerous diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, and hepatitis. But the facts of infection have not been proven.
For pets, severe harm from bedbugs is also unlikely; bald spots may appear due to the pet scratching the bite site.
Symptoms of bed bug bites
The symptoms are individual for everyone: some do not notice them until they see red dots on the body, while others begin to experience severe discomfort due to itching. Unlike a mosquito bite, the mark of a bug remains longer and is distinguished by bright redness with characteristic compaction and swelling.
You can only feel the moment of the bite if the larva is biting, because it has already developed an anesthetic secretion.
In another article, we described in detail how bedbugs bite. The link will open in a new tab.
If the skin is very swollen and the redness has spread far beyond the damage, then you are allergic to bedbug bites. The following symptoms may appear:
- general weakness in the body;
- nausea, vomiting;
- dizziness;
- muscle spasms;
- lack of air.
If you have these symptoms, immediately take an antihistamine and consult a doctor!
If there are no allergies or complications, it will be enough to disinfect the damage with alcohol or soda solution and apply Fenistil or other gel with a healing and soothing effect.
The Gektor company has released a special gel to eliminate marks from bedbug bites. Gel Hector consists of natural ingredients and helps relieve inflammation and prevents scratching of damaged skin. The disinfecting properties of the drug help speed up the healing of wounds, and the nutrients return the skin to a healthy color. A 50 ml tube costs about 230 rubles.
Effective modern remedies for bedbugs
To be honest, traditional methods, physical and mechanical effects are practically useless in the fight against bed bugs; they will only rid the house of parasites for a short time and force them to take cover for a while. Traditional recipes and herbs are good only for preventing the appearance of insects, but not for removing them.
Modern drugs are very effective and can destroy bloodsucking bedbugs in one or two applications. The most popular and suitable product on the market now is HECTOR powder.
There are quite a lot of reviews on the Internet from people who have dealt with the problem of bedbugs with Hector. From them it is clear that the product really works, but there are several nuances. Due to its powder form, “dust” may form during processing, and it must take at least two weeks to achieve results.
There is an opinion that the most effective way to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment once and for all is to call a pest control service. But, unfortunately, not all services are conscientious about their work. Many of them are aimed only at obtaining maximum profits, saving on the quality of the funds used. Someone deliberately does not complete the treatment so that the client calls the “specialist” again. Now you can easily cope with insects on your own, since all methods and means are freely available. However, the choice is yours.
It is possible to remove bedbugs, but protecting yourself from their appearance is quite difficult, so be attentive to redness on your body and stains on your bed linen, then you can begin to destroy the parasites at an early stage, when they have not yet had time to breed.
Wintering - those who survived
For wintering, bedbugs choose a warm and dry place, for example, under your baseboard or on suspended ceilings. The places where pests hide are most often various kinds of crevices in wooden buildings or parts of exfoliated bark. Therefore, do not be lazy and treat the first of them with an insecticide, and scrape the second with a wooden scraper and burn.
With the arrival of spring, when the soldiers run out in neat rows to bask in the sun, then they can be destroyed!
Maybe some of you had an interesting case of fighting soldier bugs, write to us about it in the comments.
