Bed Bugs - a blood feeder on the comeback trail

Cimex lectularius (an insect ranging in size from a pin head to an apple seed) leaves the cracks and crevices where it hides during to day to feed on the blood of sleeping humans. Attracted to carbon dioxide and body heat, bed bugs originally fed on bats and other cave dwellers but thousands of years ago they began feeding on the humans who eventually came to share their caves. This type of transition to a new host species is quite common among parasites. For example, human pubic lice are thought to have originated as gorilla parasites that spread to humans via one of three routes: 1) sexual contact between early humans and gorillas, 2) ancient humans killing and handling gorillas, or 3) gorillas and humans sharing communal areas.

    There are approximately seventy-five species in the family Cimicidae and most of these feed on non-human hosts (birds and bats). Only three species of bed bugs are serious pests to humans.

    Bed bugs feed by inserting their needle-sharp proboscis into a host's skin (see above). Saliva is then injected into the wound through one of two channels in the proboscis. This liquid contains an anesthetic into the wound that prevents the host from waking up. Additionally, anticoagulants in the saliva keep the host's blood from clotting during the approximately five minute feeding period. During this time, the bed bug sucks up blood through the second channel in its proboscis.

    After gorging itself, the bed bug often leaves a tiny pile of feces on its host before crawling off to a dark place to rest, digest, and reproduce. Bed bug bites often leave small itchy welts (which appear because of the body's immune response to the bite and the injected chemicals). Bed bug infestations can result in hundreds or even thousands of the tiny vampires - so multiple bites are quite common (sometimes numbering in the hundreds). If there’s any good news about bed bugs (and there's not much) it’s that the bite of this sanguivore is not known to transmit disease (at least not yet).

    So why the resurgence? Bed bugs can travel in bedding, overstuffed furniture, a pants cuff, or a suitcase. If you’ve unpacked your bag in a bed bug infested hotel room you may be a carrier yourself. According to one Brooklyn exterminator, “Some of the best hotels in New York have them.”

   Entomologists and bed bug control experts alike place the blame on the recent bed bug resurgence on several factors including used furniture (especially mattresses), clutter,

immigration from developing countries, bans on strong pesticides, and cheap international travel. Bed bugs are also incredibly well adapted to our habits (e.g., accumulating clutter) and our homes (e.g., they can survive in an empty and unheated apartment for months).

    If you're interested in learning much more about these fascinating but horrible insects, pick up a copy of Dark Banquet.
                              

    Please see the News, etc. section for an extensive section on treating bed bug infestations, and the Weird Facts section for some strange facts about bed bug copulation and the the reason why these blood feeders should be referred to as "bed bugs" and not "bedbugs".

Click here to see an amazing bed bug video or to ask a question about bed bugs.

    Finally, for additional information on bed bugs (especially how to get rid of them) check out bed bug expert Andy Linares' website. Andy is the owner of Bug-Off Pest Control Center and he's one of the stars of my book, Dark Banquet.

                        

All content ©2010  Bill Schutt. This is a Gorges Web Site.