Bed bugs have an oval broad, flat body and a short, broad head.
Shaped similar to an apple seed, unfed adults are around 6 to 10 mm
long and brown and wingless. After feeding, they swell slightly in size
and darken to a blood-red colour. The nymphs are shaped like the
adults, but are yellow-white in colour.
Itchy welts on
skin and/or black or brown spots on mattresses sheets, bed frames or
walls often indicate that there is a bed bug infestation.
Bed bugs are also known by several names: wall louse, house bug, mahogany flat, red coat, crimson ramblers as well as others.
The
bed bug eggs are white, about 1 mm long (1/25 inch), and are almost
impossible to see on most surfaces. The female bed bug lays at least
200 eggs in her lifetime, at a rate of about two or four per day. The
eggs have a sticky coating and are deposited in cracks and crevices,
behind woodwork and similar hidden locations. They usually hatch in six
to 17 days.
Newly hatched nymphs feed as soon as food
is available. A bed bug goes through five moults before it reaches full
maturity. Adults usually live for around 10 months, but can live for a
year or more in a home where the environment is good for reproduction,
with temperatures ranging between 21°C and 28°C, making it ideal for
breeding year round.
Bed bugs can live from several
weeks up to roughly a year and a half without feeding. Older bed bugs
can go even longer without feeding.
What can they do?
Bed
bugs can cause allergic reactions and itchy welts. Allergic sensitivity
can increase if exposure is prolonged. They do not however pose a major
health risk and are not known carriers of blood-borne diseases. Bed bug
bites may not be noticed immediately because bed bugs typically feed at
night when people are asleep.
Bed bugs are wingless and
cannot fly or jump, but are able to hide in extremely small locations
because of their flattened bodies - under wallpaper, behind picture
frames, in electrical outlets, inside box springs, in mattress pads and
in night tables. Long considered eradicated in most metropolitan areas,
bed bugs are making a comeback. People now travel more than ever
before, and bed bugs are hitching rides on clothing and luggage. They
can now be found everywhere there is a high turnover of people, from
homeless shelters to five-star hotels. They can also be accidentally
transported around the house on objects. Bed bugs do not indicate a
lack of cleanliness.
