Bed bugs and their bites

 

Among all the human parasites, blood-sucking insects are among the most visible and causing the most trouble. And the bugs of them are doubly unpleasant in that they prefer to settle mainly in a person’s dwelling, as close as possible to their main source of food. It is not surprising that in especially neglected cases they are able to turn a comfortable dwelling into an absolutely unsuitable living space.

Bed bugs are the same bed bugs, or domestic (lat. Cimex lectularius) - a very common type of household blood-sucking insects.

Depending on the degree of saturation with blood, the bedbug can be different both in size and color shades. With the appearance and features of this insect, let's take a closer look.

 

What do the bed bugs look like?

Everything in the body of the bug is adapted to sucking blood from the human body.At the same time, on other mammals, bugs practically do not parasitize.

A wide and flat abdomen, a small head, from the front of which the proboscis, thin legs - these details of the structure of the body of bugs evidences their high specialization and adaptability to parasitism.

Due to the flat belly of the bug, it is very difficult to crush even on purpose. He becomes a little more vulnerable when blood is pumped. Over millions of years of evolution, the bugs have lost their wings, which additionally protects them from damage by a victim who is tossed about in a dream.

Insect, which is on starvation rations, usually does not exceed 3-4 mm in size and has a light red or yellowish-brown body color. After a nourishing meal, the size of the body of the bug is already 9-10 mm, and its color becomes blood-brown with a dark shimmer.

The bugs' jaws are piercing-sucking apparatus and form two channels: a wide one through which blood flows, and a narrow one - for the secretion of saliva when bitten, in order to make the absorbed blood more fluid.

They feed on bed bugs at night. In one night, the insect has time to pump blood as much as it weighs itself. Both adult bugs and their larvae suck blood.

Way breeding bed bugs fully adapted not only to the parasitic way of life, but also to the fastest possible seizure of territories.

In the female's body, after mating, up to 5 eggs are formed daily, and during life, one female continuer generates up to 500 eggs. She almost every day lays them in secluded places. The development from an egg to an adult individual takes place, on average, in 4-6 weeks.

Usually bed bugs live whole colonies, among the inhabitants of which it is possible to meet both adult individuals and larvae, which look like reduced copies of adult insects of a lighter color, and new eggs. Most often, such a congestion of bugs, under conditions favorable for their development, looks like a continuous stirring spot of light brown with a grayish tint of color.

 

How to distinguish bed bugs from other insects: lice, ticks, cockroaches

Among insects, bed bugs are not the only inhabitants of a person’s dwelling. They are found here with cockroaches, fleas, ants, and occasionally with mites. But from all these neighbors, the bugs are quite different.

• First of all, the bed bug is a non-flying insect of very small (definitely smaller than in adult cockroaches) sizes.His wings are practically undeveloped, so the bugs do not fly, which also distinguishes them from cockroaches.
• From the larvae of cockroaches, which also have no wings, the bugs are quite easily distinguished by their uniform color: the gray cockroach larvae have a noticeable light brown spot on the cephalothorax, and the black cockroach larvae are almost always larger than the bugs.
• Bed bugs do not form separate “nests”, such as ants. However, their masonry is most often located near the source of food, in secluded places (sofas, beds, wallpaper, and baseboard joints).
• Hunting of these insects occurs at night, which means, unlike lice, traces of bed bugs bites will begin to itch and will be detected in the morning, after a night's sleep. In addition, if lice parasitize on the hairy part of the body - on the head, groin and armpits, the bugs, on the contrary, bite only on the back, arms and legs - where the hair is the least.
• The characteristic "distinction" of bed bugs is their peculiar smell, emitted by the special glands of these insects to scare off enemies. In the room, where there is at least one nest-colony of bed bugs, a rather unpleasant smell, resembling the sweetish smell of sour berries, appears.

 

Bedbug bites and their features

The consequences of contact with a bed bug with a man are always very noticeable. However, it is not always possible to immediately distinguish a bug from a bite of another insect.

The main difference between the bugs of bed bugs from any other insects is their specific location - a kind of path of 4-7 punctures, most often in open skin.

These parasites do not suffer from particular selectivity, biting both men, women, and children. However, in general, because of the thinner skin and, consequently, a better odor of blood on women and children, they attack more often. During the night, up to 300 bites can appear on the body of an adult in a room infected with bed bugs!

First of all, in a place bug bite begins to itch and a burning sensation appears. A person very often confuses these manifestations with allergic reactions, but taking antihistamine (antiallergic) drugs does not bring relief.

Then there is a pinkish swelling with a slight swelling. If the injured person is prone to allergic reactions, then gradually the size of the swelling will increase, and the sensation of itching and burning will be disturbed for a long time.In addition, every night the number of bites will increase, and accordingly the sharpness of sensations from them will increase.

It is still not clearly established whether the bugs are carriers of any infectious diseases, such as ticks and mosquitoes. However, with a 100% chance of talking about the impossibility of transmitting such diseases as hepatitis B, typhoid fever and even HIV, it is impossible today.

 

Where do bed bugs live and how to find them?

Bed bugs are nocturnal, so they can be detected, first of all, by the results of life activity: bites on the skin, as well as by the appearance of small specks of blood and insect excrement on bedding or clothing.

If you search for bed bugs during the day, then first of all you need to look into secluded places: the insides of sofas, beds, wallpaper joints and under them, the cracks in the floor and walls, as well as bookshelves. A variety of shelters of the colony of these parasites will lead to the fact that you will have to inspect almost the entire apartment - from clothes to electronics (for example, columns with a wooden case). Justifying their name, they can hide in the folds of bed linen and clothing.However, single individuals are more common here, and nests are located in more reliable and secluded places (so getting rid of bedbugs by simply crushing them from time to time is almost impossible).

It is important that even yesterday's absence of bedbugs in an apartment does not at all mean that the owners are protected from them today. Bedbugs are quite mobile and move easily from their neighbors. Moreover, they with equal ease occupy both the premises, which are in poor sanitary condition, as well as apartments with a fresh modern renovation and regularly cleaned. Therefore, he meeting with them is not insured by anyone.

 

What are the domestic bugs and how to recognize their appearance in the apartment

 

Useful video on how to detect bed bugs