Bed bugs: the appearance of bloodsucking, and what harm can they bring to health?

Bedbugs are typical representatives of the order of the half-winged. Among 40 thousand species of insects, about 100 pose a direct threat to human health. The most common species are bed bugs. Arthropods feed on the blood of humans and warm-blooded animals. Parasites live in houses, hiding in furniture, wall cracks, behind wallpaper. Their bites lead to allergies, rashes, and itching. Night attacks cause anxiety, exclude normal sleep. Children are especially affected.

What bed bugs look like

The family of bed bugs includes about 100 species. Its representatives spread around the world. They are hematophagous, feed exclusively on blood. Parasites attack humans, mammals, birds, and bats. Acquaintance with them began thousands of years BC. e. In those days, people lived in caves, sharing them with bats and insects. Evolution has not saved humanity from the annoying neighborhood. Bed bugs became inhabitants of large developed cities.

The structure and survival of insects contributes to their structure. The body of bedbugs is flattened, dimensions:

• adults - 4.5-8 mm;
• nymph - 1.2-4 mm;
• egg - 0.8-1 mm.

Coloring red-brown, insect covered with sensitive hairs. The body consists of three parts: head, chest. Abdomen. On the head are complex convex facet eyes. Antennae are four-segmented, they are an organ of smell. Antennas are given the main function when searching for a food source. The parasite focuses on the release of carbon dioxide by a person during breathing and body temperature. Vision in night darkness is an additional organ.

The chest is divided into 3 segments. Each has one pair of running legs. The limbs have a typical structure, consist of 5 parts. There are no special devices on the foot for reliable clinging to the victim’s body. On the underside of the chest is a pair of odorous glands. In case of danger, the insect releases an oily secretion with a characteristic odor. The leathery elytra turned into 2 short plates on the pronotum, hind wings reduced. The abdomen consists of 10 segments. On it are paired respiratory organs - spiracles. Inside the body, the holes are connected to the trachea.

Oral apparatus and nutrition

A domestic bug has a piercing-sucking type of oral apparatus. The lower lip was transformed into a proboscis, and two pairs of jaws into bristles for piercing the integument. The device is adapted for the consumption of liquid food. During feeding, the parasite pierces the skin, reaching the blood vessel. There are 2 channels in the proboscis. One at a time, saliva with an analgesic and coagulants enters the victim’s blood. In the second, blood is sucked into the esophagus of the bug. In a calm state, the proboscis is bent under the chest and is in the groove.

Information. After feeding, the body of a domestic bug increases in size by almost 2 times. The abdomen extends in length, acquires a spherical shape. Color becomes scarlet. The color gradually darkens.

In the body of insects, scientists found many pathogenic microorganisms: bacteria of anthrax, tuberculosis, typhoid, and plague.Excrement of parasites can contain the virus of fever, smallpox, hepatitis, as well as fungi, protozoa and helminths. There is no official confirmation of the transmission of diseases with a bug bite, but doctors are afraid of this possibility.

Harm to health

During a bite, a person does not feel pain, so in one night the insects make a whole path out of punctures. It takes 10-15 minutes to eat. Bed bugs prefer exposed areas of the body. More often than other places suffer:

• forearm

• hips
• lower legs;
• stomach;
• back;
• face.

The location of damage depends on the sleeping position. Bites in the head and neck appear when a significant number of bedbugs appear. Parasites prefer to attack children. The choice is associated with the thinness of children's skin and minimal hair on the body. The body's response to insect saliva is expressed in the appearance of blisters, a red rash. Kids can’t stand itching, so they brush their wounds. The appearance of a secondary infection is possible. To alleviate the condition, antihistamines are used in the idea of ​​ointments and tablets - Fenistil, Alfoderm.

Information. Folk remedies for relieving itching and redness are a compress from a concentrated solution of baking soda or grated raw potatoes.

You can distinguish damage caused by sucking blood with ectoparasites from an allergic rash or mosquito bites by several signs:

• the wounds are arranged in a chain;
• at the bite remains a point of dried blood;
• the damaged area swells;
• severe itching occurs.

An allergic reaction in the form of edema and redness can occur in an adult. It is the body's response to substances contained in the saliva of an insect. Regular attacks of a large colony lead to a significant deterioration in health. During the night, up to 500 bites appear on the human body. Due to anxiety sleep, chronic fatigue develops, immunity decreases, and nervousness occurs. Efficiency decreases, negative reactions of the cardiovascular system can be observed.

Types of bed bugs

The most common are several types:

• Cimex leactularius - cosmopolitan, found everywhere, is an everyday parasite. Bedbugs suck human blood. Spread with old furniture, things. The color is dirty yellow or brownish. A wingless species is able to actively move.
• Cimex hemipterus - ectoparasites living in tropical countries. In the daytime they prefer to hide in furniture. The size of insects is up to 8 mm. Appearance and coloration are similar to those of Cimex leactularius. The saliva of parasites contains a strong allergen, causing the formation of large blisters at the site of the bite.
• Cimex pilosellus is a distribution area of ​​North America and Canada. As hosts, insects use bats. In the absence of food, they make their way to homes and parasitize in humans. The size of adults is 4-5 mm, the species is distinguished by elongated hairs on the body, females are noticeably larger than males.
• Oeciacus Vicarius - ectoparasite of rocky and village swallows. From the nests abandoned by birds, insects move to homes in early spring. After an attack on people, dermatitis, skin allergy appears.

A bed or home bug is the only species that parasitizes a person constantly. Initially, it was believed that insect infection occurs in conditions of unsanitary conditions and is characteristic of underdeveloped countries. At the beginning of the 21st century, epidemiologists noted a jump in the number of ectoparasites. The reason for the increase in the number of domestic bugs is the general warming of the climate, an increase in the construction of heated housing, the development of tourism and the sale of second-hand things.

Sexual dimorphism

The number of males and females in the clutch is almost the same. At the nymph stage, it is impossible to determine the gender of the insects. Only after the fifth molt does gender become clear. How to distinguish a female bug from a male? Sexual dimorphism is manifested in the structure of the abdomen.In the female, it is round and wide, in males it is elongated, pointed at the end. In males, the abdominal edge is asymmetric due to the presence of a copulative organ. Female bugs are larger in size, they are more active and voracious, drink about 7 ml of blood. Nutrition is necessary for the maturation of eggs hatched by the female.

Information. One fertilized female can give life to a whole colony of parasites.

The life cycle of ectoparasites

Domestic bugs are insects with incomplete transformation. They go through the stage of eggs, nymphs, adults. A full development cycle from an egg to an adult takes 40-100 days. The maturation of parasites depends on the temperature and humidity in the room, as well as the ability to receive food by blood. In favorable conditions, reproduction continues throughout the year.

After fertilization, females lay 5-12 eggs daily. The masonry is placed in secluded slots of walls or furniture, with a sticky secret attached to the surfaces. The total number of eggs laid during the life of the female is 200-500 pieces. The larva reaches puberty in less than 2 months. Due to its high fecundity and latent lifestyle, the colony of ectoparasites grows exponentially.

Offspring of bed bugs

The incubation period lasts 5-20 days. After birth, the larvae (nymphs) are whitish, transparent. Within a few hours, they acquire a characteristic tan color. They are about 1 mm in size. To fight pests, you need to know how small bugs look. They resemble adults - the body is very flattened, antennae on the head, consisting of 4 segments. The extremities have a slight difference in the structure of the legs, in the offspring it is two-segmented. Although the same number of males and females is born, in the first ages the floor of the bug is not determined. The larva at room temperature (20-22 °) develops 42-56 days.

Offspring before adulthood is 5 ages and 4 molting. It eats along with adults, while nymphs need frequent sucking blood. Food is a necessary factor in the transition to the next phase. In warmth, larvae molt every week. For proper nutrition, they need 0.3-1 ml of blood. The offspring of insects is distinguished by endurance, it is capable of starving for up to 18 months, surviving at low temperatures.

Lifestyle home bugs

Parasites are active at night and in the early morning. During this period, people sleep soundly and are defenseless before an attack. The peak of activity occurs in 3-5 hours. Adults can eat every 5 days. One blood sucking lasts 7-15 minutes. The proboscis insect makes several punctures, choosing the best place with a closely lying capillary. Larvae attack in groups, after which remains a vast damaged area of ​​the epidermis.

Information. Home bugs do not have blood type preferences. The myth of selectivity has emerged due to the lack of skin reaction in some people.

The diet of bedbugs is limited exclusively to blood. They attack not only people, but also birds, rodent bats. The abundance of parasites adversely affects the productivity of poultry (chickens, pigeons). They lose weight, stop laying eggs. The migration of insects occurs from people to animals and in the opposite direction. Parasites from abandoned bird nests or bat populations are able to move into human habitation. The speed of movement of adults is 60-70 m / h. Larvae are less mobile, they creep in the same time the distance is 4 times less.

The life cycle of insects is largely dependent on ambient temperature. Its fluctuations are poorly tolerated by adults and larvae. Favorable indicators for their habitat 25-30 °. By lowering the thermometer to 10 °, eggs and larvae stop development. They fall into a state close to suspended animation, waiting for warming. The life expectancy of adults is 12-14 months. Without food, they are able to survive for 1 year. Insects require only cool air temperatures to survive.During fasting, they lose body weight, integuments become transparent. Sensitivity to high temperature has become one of the ways to kill parasites. The maximum survival rate of 45 °. Arthropods can tolerate cold more easily; in frosts up to -17 ° C, they remain viable.

How to detect parasites in the apartment?

The presence of insects is detected after a few days. Bedbugs are invisible in the apartment. They are careful, hiding in the daytime. Where to find arthropods? The main habitat is upholstered furniture, sleeping places. You need to look inside the sofas, beds, armchairs, examine the mattresses. Insects can be behind cabinet furniture, departed wallpaper, in the crevices of the skirting boards. They are detected by a specific smell in the place of a constant accumulation of parasites. It is difficult to find parasites at the initial stage of settlement, when there are only a few individuals. The colony is much easier to determine.

In addition to the unpleasant smell, nests give excrement. Many bugs leave small black dots. In the habitat molting of nymphs occurs, it is full of chitinous remains. There are also white eggs. Small blood stains on bedding and sting chains on the body of the household are some of the main signs of the presence of domestic bugs. Sometimes, in order to expose them, one has to rip apart mattresses, tear off the siding of sofas. Without radical measures, it will not be possible to get rid of blood-sucking insects. When infecting an apartment, one should look for parasites in soft toys, curtains, clothes.

How do insects get into an apartment?

The appearance of synanthropic insects is associated with unsanitary conditions in the living room. Bed bugs often find themselves in a safe, clean house. They get into the apartment in several ways:

• Together with furniture bought from a hand or at a used goods store.
• Parasites are brought in folds of clothing or bags from hotels, offices, dormitories. Baggage should be carefully inspected after trips to Asian countries.
• Insects make their way to the apartment from neighbors through cracks in the walls, through sockets, ventilation ducts.

Tip. When buying upholstered furniture, carefully inspect it. Pay special attention to the seam, back walls. The presence of parasites gives off odor and black spots of excrement.

In search of a source of blood, parasites can migrate not only from one room to another, but also to a neighboring apartment, and in the summer the house. They move easily on vertical surfaces. The most effective way to combat parasites is to use insecticides. Detailed information about them in the article "Treatment from bugs: destruction with a guarantee".

The presence of bed bugs in the apartment significantly reduces the quality of life of people. To combat blood-sucking pests, you must have information about their lifestyle and developmental characteristics.