Interesting facts and not only: what do we know about bedbugs

Bed bugs have become human neighbors in caves of the Middle East hundreds of years BC. He ate on bats, but the parasites liked the human blood. Insects existed millions of years before meeting humans. Nature endowed them with excellent adaptability and unique ability to survive. The parasite can live 12 months without food. Interesting facts about bedbugs will help you better know the insidious enemy.

Bed bugs: who are they

Bedbugs belong to the order of the semi-rigid winged. These are insects in which part of the front wings has become leathery. Among 40 thousand species, about 100 are synanthropic parasites of humans and warm-blooded animals. The species of bed bugs Cimex Lectularius is the most common in temperate climates. In tropical latitudes, people suffer from bites of the species Cimex hemipterus. Its habitat is Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. Parasites are cosmopolitan; they are found in backward villages and large megacities.

In the history of the interaction of parasites and humans, there are many interesting facts about bed bugs:

• The appearance of insects does not depend on the sanitary condition of the premises, most often they are found in residential buildings, hotels, dormitories. They can settle in boarding houses, offices, medical institutions.
• The ancient Roman writer Pliny believed that the bite of the parasite helps to cure snake venom and ear infections.
• In Europe, bed bugs appeared in the Middle Ages: Germany - XI century., England - XIII century. They came to America with settlers in the 16th century. In Central Asia, the parasite was recorded only in the XIX century.
• Not all members of the bedbug family live in apartments, some species prefer tree hollows, bird nests, and bats' habitats.
• Arthropods are active at night, peak at 3-8 hours. But hungry individuals bite in the afternoon.
• Life expectancy of adults is 12-14 months. High temperature speeds up the processes in their body and shortens the period by 2 months.
• The female bug needs only one fertilization to lay eggs throughout her life. Its fertility is 250-500 pieces.
• Reproduction of insects occurs through traumatic insemination. To introduce sperm, the male punctures the female’s abdomen. He also attacks other males.
• In Russia, along with the destruction of parasites by boiling water and steam, the practice of removing insects with the help of conspiracies.

Do pet bugs bite

Owners of pets upon detection of blood-sucking insects worry not only for themselves, but also for their pets. Do bugs of cats and dogs bite? Mammals are suitable for feeding parasites; under favorable conditions, they would gladly eat on pets. But in everyday life, attacks are extremely rare. The fact is that arthropods prefer to eat on a hairless body. Their limbs are not adapted to movement among the hairline. Thick wool protects animals from the encroachment of bed bugs. In addition, they have rather thick skin.

Can animals become carriers of parasites? The risk of bringing a bed bug to the dog’s coat is minimal. Insects do not live in open areas. There is a slight chance that the parasite can be carried by cats from the basement or attic.

Information. Cats of bald breeds (sphinxes) can suffer from the attack of blood-sucking insects. Their high body temperature and lack of hair will certainly attract parasites.

From domestic animals rodents suffer: rabbits, hamsters, rats, chinchillas. Parasites crawl at night and bite them. Pets suffer from itching, comb the remaining wounds. Often bed bugs feed on birds. The apartment is a parrot. Insects live in cells, hiding in crevices and debris. In farm buildings, parasites feed on the blood of chickens. Birds do not tolerate attacks. Pull feathers in places of itching. A depressed state leads to a decrease in the number of eggs.

Chicken coops become a real breeding ground for parasites. They breed in huge quantities. The high temperature of chickens is a natural heating and creates favorable conditions for pests. Birds, especially chickens, have thin skin. Arthropods easily pierce it with a proboscis. At night, poultry sleeps, being easy prey. To save chickens, it is necessary to treat the premises with insecticides.

Do bugs fly

Most bugs have a peculiar wing structure - the front pair is half leathery, and the edges are webbed. The hind wings are transparent, with longitudinal veins, fold along the body. The ability to fly was preserved by wood and aquatic species of bugs. With the help of wings, they find favorable places to stay. Having discovered parasites in their home, people worry whether bugs fly or not. The lifestyle affected the body structure of insects. Their habitat near a food source led to the fact that the bugs lost their hind wings. From the front pair were 2 small plates with rounded edges. Reduced elytra are located on the prothorax of the imago.

Ways of movement

The body of insects is flattened, this allows them to hide in the narrowest crevices. For the movement of bugs, 3 pairs of limbs of the traveling type are used. Each leg consists of 5 sections: basin, trochanter, thigh, lower leg, foot. Pests do not have special devices for holding on the human body. Do bugs jump? No, the structure of the limbs does not allow them to jump. An article will tell you more about the structure of insects. “Bed vampires or what do bed bugs look like?”.

Running is the only way an affordable way to move. Bed bugs do not like long walks, arrange their nest near a food source. But hunger makes pests look for new feeding places. They make transitions between rooms, apartments and even houses. In the warm season, you can notice insects on the outer walls of the house. Are bed bugs running fast or not? The speed of adults is 1 m per minute, nymphs are less mobile - 25 cm per 1 minute.

Information. In some cases, bed bugs climb to the ceiling and fall on a person. Such situations laid the foundation for the myth of flying and jumping parasites.

How the bugs smell

In a calm state, insects are odorless, but in case of a threat, oily liquid is released from special glands. Organ holes are located on the underside of the chest. For a person, the characteristic aroma is very unpleasant. The most nasty is the smell of representatives of the family of insects. Phytophages use secrets to scare away enemies. Wood insects are called stink bug.

In the apartment, the smell of secretions can be felt at the place of accumulation of insects. They leave a little fluid with intraspecific communication. The smell of bugs causes various associations: cognac, rotten raspberries, almonds.

Information. In Europe and the United States, odors are used to search for parasite nests. The delicate sense of smell of animals makes it possible to accurately find even a small accumulation of bed bugs.

The secretion from the odorous glands consists of aldehydes. In chemical composition, it is close to pheromones. Do home bugs smell when crushed? If the integument and organs are damaged, the odorous secretion will spill out in large numbers. In such a situation, an unpleasant aroma will be especially persistent and strong. After removing the insects in the apartment carry out a general cleaning. The smell quickly disappears.

What do bedbugs eat?

Among the many species of representatives of the order of Hemoptera there are phytophages feeding on the sap of plants, predators, mixed types. The nutrition of bed bugs consists entirely of blood. The main sources of satisfying hunger are people, birds, small rodents, and bats. With the loss of the main host, they move to other species. Everyone has a piercing-sucking mouth apparatus. By its design, it is adapted to absorb only liquid food. Predators inject food enzymes into the victim’s body into a substrate.

When searching for food in an apartment, bed bugs are guided by the emission of carbon dioxide. It is caught by sensitive antennae. Adults and larvae feed together. During the night, they make several punctures, leaving a chain of blood points on the human body. Insects have a three-segmented proboscis with two channels. One at a time, saliva with analgesics and anticoagulants is injected into the wound. Substances prevent the victim from feeling a bite and blood clotting. In the second, food is absorbed. For puncture, bristles are used.

The nutrition schedule and the amount of blood consumed depends on the age of the parasites. Imago attack 1 time in 5-7 days, storing 6-7 ml of blood. Larvae drink less than 0.5-2 ml, but eat more often. A portion of blood is necessary for them to molt and move to the next age. An article on the life cycle of a parasite “Is it possible to starve bugs: how long do they live in an empty apartment?”.

A red spot, swelling, itching appears at the site of the bite. This is an allergic reaction to injected saliva. A large colony of insects in one night can leave 400-500 bites on the human body. They cause significant damage to health. It is necessary not to start the situation and at the first signs of the appearance of parasites proceed to their elimination.

Information. Many species of herbivorous bugs are considered pests. They suck the juice of agricultural plants, reducing productivity and worsening presentation.

Who eats bedbugs

Under natural conditions, the enemies of bugs are predatory insects, amphibians, birds and small animals. In apartments of the listed dangers for parasites, only insects can. These are synanthropic species that also prefer to settle next to humans. In the competition with blood-sucking arthropods enter:

• Pharaonic ants - small (2-2.5 mm) red insects arrange nests in the crevices of the floor and walls. Their bites, accompanied by the introduction of acid, are deadly for bedbugs
• Cockroaches - Prussians do not attack adults and larvae, but eat eggs. This reduces the population growth rate.
• The common flycatcher is a centipede predator hunting small arthropods. She leads a nocturnal lifestyle, kills prey with poison.

Natural enemies cannot remove parasites, they only reduce their numbers.

Information on the characteristics, behavior, nutrition and lifestyle of bedbugs will help in the fight against parasites.