move away from light) and positive thigmotaxis (i.e. When not feeding, bed bugs are generally concealed in cracks and crevices in their environment, including bed frames, head boards and mattresses. Bed bugs locate a host by orienting toward cues including heat, CO 2,and host odors. Bites may itch and a rash may develop around the bite. Feeding requires about 5-10 minutes to complete and generally occurs on areas of the body that are exposed while sleeping, such as the face, neck, arms, and hands. Bed bugs feed on blood about once every 1-2 weeks, while the host is inactive or sleeping. Upon arriving at a new location, the prodigious fecundity of an undetected bug, 200-500 eggs per adult female, ensures a rapid increase in their numbers.Bed bugs are nocturnally active with peak feeding activity occurring after midnight. Moreover, an adult bed bug can survive for more than a year without a blood meal. Consequently, they may hitchhike in suitcases, used furniture, and clothing. The human bed bug subsequently spread with its new host around the world as people migrated with their belongings.īecause no life stages can fly, bed bugs rely on passive transportation by their host to spread. The host range extension from bat to humans in Cimex lectularius is likely to have taken place in Europe, the Middle East, or India, as humans moved from a cave-dwelling existence to living in villages and cities. Most cimicids exhibit relatively narrow host preferences with either birds or bats as the dominant hosts. Similar to other obligate blood-feeding insects, cimicids have microbial symbionts in specialized organs that are presumably important for supplementing the blood diet. Natural History. Bed bugs belong to one of only three lineages within Heteroptera that are obligate blood feeders or hematophages. Only three species may be associated with humans, Leptocimex boueti in certain areas of West Africa, Cimex hemipterus in the tropics of the Old and New Worlds, and, most importantly, Cimex lectularius in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. The Cimicidae are divided into 22 genera, with 12 being exclusively associated with bats, 9 with birds, and only the genus Cimex containing a mixture of bird and mammal ectoparasites. Bed bugs have several specialized features in common with some closely related groups, such as loss of simple eyes known as ocelli.īed bugs are closely related to the blood-feeding, bat bugs and predatory minute pirate bugs (family Anthocoridae) that are used as natural enemies in integrated pest management. The mouthparts comprise the labium (externally visible part of the “beak”) and pairs of maxillary and mandibular stylets that form the salivary and food canals. Like other Heteroptera, Cimicidae have sucking mouth parts, and metathoracic and abdominal scent glands that produce a characteristic smell. Their wings are represented by short, non-functional wing pads and they cannot fly. Morphology and Relationships to other Bugs. Bed bugs are small to medium-sized (4-12 mm), ovate, dorsoventrally flattened (i.e., squashed-looking from top to bottom) and of brownish coloration.
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