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The Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)
Bed bugs are flat, oval, almost wingless insects, usually less than 7 mm long (1/4 inch). These reddish-brown bugs have moderately long, slender antennae, thin legs, and vestigial wings in the form of stubs. Notorious pests, they can run at a surprising speed. At night they hunt for sleeping mammals and birds. Adults have been known to survive without food for a year or more. The bed bug is nocturnal, usually feeding on the blood at night and hiding during the day.
They become mature in about four weeks when host blood is available and temperature, humidity and harbourage is favourable. If hosts are scarce, bed bugs can survive for a year without feeding. Hosts include many species of vertebrates besides humans, including poultry, rodents, dogs and cats. They infest shelters along hiking trails and cabins of summer camps and parks. The surprise occurrence of bed bugs in urban homes can sometimes be traced to these recreation facilities.
Eggs
Eggs are deposited several times each day in protected places near the host's sleeping area;several hundred may be deposited. Hatching occurs in one to two weeks, depending on temperature - the warmer the weather, the shorter the incubation time.
Nymphs
Nymphs are tiny and colorless at first. They go through five molts taking a blood meal between each one. This nymphal period can last from several weeks under favourable conditions to as long as a year when hosts are unavailable and temperatures are low.
Adults
Bed bugs undergo gradual metamorphosis and mate soon after becoming adults. Adult bed bugs prefer humans as hosts; while they have been known to harbour several human diseases, there have been no record of disease transmission.
Harbourage
Under normal conditions, bed bugs feed at night. Their flat bodies allow them to hide in cracks in beds, bedside furniture, dressers, wall boards, door and window frames, behind pictures, under loose wall paper, and in rooms near host sleeping areas.
If a room is heavily infested, there will usually be a strong characteristic odor which results from an oily, odorous material secreted by the bed bugs. After feeding on the blood of a human, they will defecate, and this will appear as small black spots and will be found near their hiding place.
People bitten by bed bugs react differently. Some people show no apparent effect from the bite. Others suffer a marked irritation and swelling in the vicinity of the bite.