Bedbugs:
The bed bug (Cimex lectularius), comes from the family of Cimicidae.
Appearance:
Adult animals are reddish brown, wingless and six-legged. The hungry parasites are about as thin as a sheet of paper. They reach a body length of 4 to 6 mm. After a blood meal they can reach a length of up to 10 mm.
Bedbugs have limited smell capabilities and are almost blind. It only perceives the odors it needs to find food and can distinguish between light and dark.. The sense of touch is well developed and they move fast (about 20 meters in 1 minute). The nocturnal animals have 5 larval stages. Between each moult, the larva must have taken blood at least once.
Even before oviposition, a female needs a blood meal. After fertilization (a male can fertilize several females), the female begins laying eggs within 24 hours, on average about 2 to 8 eggs a day. The eggs are elongated and about 1-2.5 mm in size. A female can lay 200 to 500 eggs in her life.
They are attracted by the warmth and carbon dioxide of their favorite host, the human.
Bed bugs bite mainly in places that are not covered by clothes (sleepwear), such as arms, legs and feet, neck, shoulder, neck and face. The bite is painless, as a numbing secretion is secreted during bloodsucking. It leaves small red spots with itching that are usually visible the day after.
However, the symptoms may occur only a few days later. Another feature of the bloodsucking parasites is the so-called bug street. Here are several bites arranged in a row, as the bugs rarely catch a blood vessel at the first bite and thus bite more often.