Cimex lectularius - How to recognize them.
Bed bugs are small, flat and broad brownish insects with an oval form. They are between 4 and 7 mm long, and about 3 mm wide. They do not transmit diseases, although they are repulsive. Their eggs measure only 1mm (1/25th of an inch), which makes the latter difficult to detect. The female will lay approximately from 200 to 500 of them in her lifetime, which lasts approximately 10 months. On the other hand, if the conditions of the residence are favorable for reproduction, one speaks here about a temperature of between 21 and 28°C, it could live more than one year.
They arrive on your premise in several ways. Travel (hotels, motels), objects piled up on the edge of the sidewalks or even the visitors, are only some ways of bringing them on your premise by inadvertency. Do not panic immediately though!
The adult bug, of the approximate size of an apple seed, does not fly, nor does it jump. It rather moves by walking. It installs itself especially in your bed and hides especially in the seams of the mattresses during the day. As it is intolerant to light it favors going out during the night and, as it adores being comfortably warm under cover of the night, it is there that it takes advantage to nibble human beings. Beware, when I say, to nibble the human being, it means that these small animals like human blood.
On the other hand, they can be found in the plinths, in the cracks of your pieces of furniture, in the coaches or cushions of the sitting room, if they have time to multiply.
If a person is pricked, it could be that he/she does not feel anything at all. On the other hand, with certain people, the appearance of bites (small red spots) on the body can indicate a probable infestation of bed bugs. Similar to an allergic reaction, these spots can cause itching. Problems can occur, if one scratches oneself in an excessive way. If these bites appear, check also your sheets: you could find there small black spots (excrements) or stains of blood left there after their “meals”, which would confirm the thesis of infestation.
It is unfortunately quite a real subject, which can become a nightmare as much for the tenants that for the owners.
Cimex lectularius - How to recognize them
