All about bed bugs

One of the naturalists wrote that bed bugs are insects of beautiful shape and noble colors, but the pleasant impression of meeting them immediately disappears as soon as you find out about their evil addictions. It is impossible to disagree with the author - there are no more unpleasant parasites visiting housing.

Bedbugs - a 21st Century Threat

Until the middle of the last century, blood-sucking insects filled apartments and houses. This is evidenced by historical facts and works of art. In the feuilletons of M. Zoshchenko, describing the life of ordinary citizens in post-revolutionary Russia, bed bugs were an integral attribute of communal apartments. Invention powerful insecticides pacified the morale of pests for several decades.

However, the new century was marked by a sharp increase in the population of bed bugs. In the prosperous countries of England, Sweden, Australia, the USA, the number of areas inhabited by insects increased by 50%. Florida was the most numerous attack, where the number of "bloodsuckers" increased by 10 times. Bursts were noted in Brazil, Colombia. The problem has gained worldwide proportions.

Entomologists have identified several reasons for population growth:

1. Second-hand market development.
2. The increase in the area of ​​heated rooms.
3. Activation of tourism.
4. Quick adaptation of bed bugs to insecticides.
5. The use of ineffective drugs, which is greatly facilitated by advertising that does not always offer high-quality goods.

On a note!

According to statistics, the entire population falls into the risk zone, regardless of status, financial situation, sanitary condition of housing, the area of ​​an apartment or house.

Not everyone saw the parasite and has a general idea of ​​its appearance, methods of penetration into apartments, nuances of nutrition and reproduction. However, knowing everything about bed bugs, it is easier to deal with them. Insects will not be taken by surprise, and even if they appear, they will be able to quickly get rid of bedbugs.

What does a home bug look like?

A bed bug is a small insect with a flattened body that recognizes only one type of food: blood. Color and parasite sizes vary depending on saturation:

• Black bugs are very hungry individuals that last fed 10-14 days ago, barely reach 4-5 mm in length and are practically invulnerable to mechanical stress.

  

• In the full state, the insect acquires a scarlet color, greatly increases in size to 8.5 mm. With an accidental movement, crushing a bed bug that has just finished a meal is very easy. It is from these sluggish representatives that blood spots remain on the bed.
• In the majority, a brown bug is found, since a bright color persists only a few hours after a feast.

Females are somewhat larger than males, their ratio in the colony is the same.For each "young lady" there is one "gentleman". For bed parasites, an incomplete transformation cycle is characteristic. From the eggs appear larvae (nymphs), the appearance of which is a reduced copy of their parents.

Interesting!

The hatched nymph is white, transparent, often on her head is a miniature cap from the egg capsule, which resembles a student cap. The color of the newborns served to the fact that a myth appeared, allegedly there are white bugs. However, in this form larva dwells not for long. Driven by hunger, she goes in search of food and, after saturation, acquires a characteristic bedbug color.

Who and when they bite bed bugs

Adults (adults) and larvae feed exclusively on blood. When bed bugs are active, a person is sleeping. Therefore, often, especially in cases of mild infection of the room, night marches of bed bloodsuckers go unnoticed. Peak activity is observed from 3 a.m. to 5-7 a.m.

The structural features of the oral apparatus allow parasites to make meals with impunity. The insect accurately identifies the location of the capillary and immerses the proboscis, which is hundreds of times thinner than a medical needle. Piercing the skin, a bed bug through one channel introduces an anesthetic enzyme, thanks to which a person does not experience pain during a bite, but draws blood through the second channel.

After drinking a portion of blood, the parasite moves a few centimeters and continues to feed. To get enough, he makes 4-5 punctures, a reminder of which becomes a characteristic path. The meal lasts from 5 to 20 minutes. There is no reason to accuse the bedbug of excessive bloodthirstiness - unlike other bloodsuckers, it goes hunting once every 7-10 days. The nymphs are more voracious - they can attack daily and make painful bites, since their saliva does not yet contain an anesthetic component.

Contrary to the erroneous opinion, bed bugs do not show legibility in choosing a food item. Their victims can be people with any blood type, gender, age. The only explanation why bugs do not bite all people - This is a different susceptibility to bites.

In some people, they are manifested by large red blisters and severe itching, while in others they can remain barely noticeable points that do not cause discomfort. About 70% of people do not notice bedbugs. In women and children, the skin is thinner and more susceptible to external stimuli, so they more often than men complain of bloodsucker attacks.

Interesting!

The researcher, on his own initiative, conducted an experiment to detect a reaction to bedbugs. He selflessly exposed his hand to a hundred bloodsuckers. After that, he had impaired vision and a rapid heartbeat. Such symptoms were not caused by a loss of blood, but by a reaction to severe itching.

What is the danger of bed bugs

Main harm and danger of bed bugs lies in their bites. A swelling appears on the affected area with a puncture point in the center and severe itching. When combing the wound, it becomes possible to introduce bacteria. People who are prone to allergic reactions have the following symptoms:

• rash;
• temperature increase;
• nasal congestion;
• difficulty breathing.

In rare cases, a manifestation is possible allergies to bedbugs, anaphylactic shock.

Important!

With a large accumulation of parasites and numerous regular attacks of bed bugs, anemia can develop in children and the elderly.

Despite the fact that bloodsuckers feed on blood and could be carriers of dangerous viruses, diseases, laboratory tests did not reveal the transmission of fatal ailments during bloodsucking. However, there is a version that the feces of a bed bug, in which hepatitis B is found, are dangerous. When inhaled, particles of excrement enter the human body and can provoke infection.Research in this direction has not yet been completed.

Propagation Features

Bed bugs breed through traumatic insemination. Entomologists consider mating parasites to be a fascinating and unique process. The female is deprived of a special hole. Nature more than compensated for this peculiar defect on the male, providing it with a sufficiently long, sharp genital organ, which is often compared with a perforator.

The male pierces the body of the female indiscriminately and introduces seminal fluid into it. It can be the abdomen, back and even the area of ​​the head. Sperm flock to a special department where eggs are formed. One successful insemination for a female bed bug is enough to increase the number of relatives by 350-500 individuals. In case of hunger, the formed eggs in the body of the female serve as a source of nutrition for her.

Interesting!

Every 20th goose egg empty. This fact is less of a concern to scientists than the cause of unfertilized eggs, but entomologists have not yet been able to solve the phenomenon.

A female lays eggs in portions: 5 pieces daily. They are tiny in size, oblong in shape and protected by a strong adhesive coating, which most insecticides cannot destroy. After 7-10 days, larvae emerge from them, only size differs from adult individuals. Nymphs often feed and as they grow older they renew their carapace, which becomes small.

The molting process is quite interesting. The larva bends in an arc, inflates itself with air and the cover bursts in a certain place. From under it, the nymph crawls out in a new soft robe. It happens that part of the old shell remains on the insect and it is forced to drag it with itself.

Interesting!

A special gland, which is located on the head, is responsible for the molting process. It secretes a hormone, which at a certain interval enters the bloodstream and signals a change in the shell. If the bedbug turns out to be headless, he will be able to live without it, but he will not have to update the skin.

After the fifth molt, the nymph becomes a sexually mature individual. Under favorable conditions, development from an egg to an imago lasts 35-35 days. If adverse, the process may drag on for 100 days.

Where do bed bugs live?

Bed bugs prefer to live near berths and even in the bed itself. Insects do not build nests, like ants, but still live crowded. Their lair is an unpleasant sight - large bugs, small nymphs, swarming among black feces, discarded shells and eggs.

In addition to clusters, the presence of parasites gives out a specific smell of spoiled raspberries, black dots on the wallpaper, small bloody spots on the sheets. You can find bed bugs in the nooks of an apartment, a house. The most common habitats of bed parasites:

• seams of the mattress, structural elements of the bed, sofa;
• cushioned furniture;
• inside outlets, household appliances;
• bedside tables, joints of cabinet furniture;
• in clothes, in closets;
• interior items;
• Stuffed Toys;
• cracks, the space under the baseboards, the departed wallpaper.

On a note!

Having identified pests, you should immediately proceed to the destruction of bugs through the sanitary service or poison yourself. For this purpose, it is better to use effective insecticidal preparations in the form of aerosols, sprays, emulsions. To rely on folk remedies for bed bugs especially not worth it. They can only help scare away pests for a short period of time.

What are the bloodsuckers afraid of?

Nature awarded bed bugs good adaptability. They lead a secretive lifestyle, in the absence of nutrition they fall into suspended animation, in which they can stay for about a year, the eggs are reliably protected by the shell, which preserves the population. However, parasites also have vulnerabilities:

• Bedbugs do not like the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, scientists from the USA came to this conclusion and created a means for the destruction of small bloodsuckers on the basis of fungal spores. For the experiment, a sheet treated with a solution of spores was used. After walking on it for just an hour, after five days, all individuals died from mycosis. The experimental insects infected other relatives, since they brought spores of a deadly fungus for bugs on the legs.
• At a temperature of + 50 ° C, an instant death of the bug occurs at any stage of development. This feature is often used to bedbug control. Small-sized pieces of furniture, clothes are carried out on a hot day in the sun and “fry” for several hours. At home, use irons, hot water. Very effective and less time consuming. steam treatment.

  

• Low temperatures from minus 18 ° C also destroy bloodsuckers.
• Strong pungent odors wormwood, tansyLedum, vinegar, turpentine, paints and varnishes, perfumes repel bed guests.
• Bed bugs do not like dampness. Once on a wet surface, they begin to crawl, as if on tiptoe, afraid to wet their abdomen.

On a note!

Entomologists used the fear of damp bugs to collect experimental specimens. If a large accumulation of parasites is found on the wall, a wet rag spreads on the floor. Abrupt movement through cardboard individuals shake off the floor. If it gets on a wet rag, the bugs behave as paralyzed and can be slowly and neatly put into a jar.

Interesting facts about bedbugs

Despite their tiny size, insects have amazing abilities:

• A bed bug cannot fly, jump, but shows outstanding sprinting qualities. An adult overcomes a distance of about a meter in a minute, which allows insects to make long journeys.
• A dive from the ceiling, which is mistaken for flying ability, is not explained by cunning, the ingenuity of the parasite, but only by the multiplicity of the colony. In order to protect himself from the "black rain", one resourceful man built a frame according to the canopy type and treated the edges with glue from flies. So he managed to calmly spend the night.
• Male bed bugs are not characterized by legibility in communication. They make 200 mating per day. The female does not always act as a partner; an alternative may be a male from the same family, an insect of a different species, a young nymph.
• Studying the parasite, the question involuntarily arises, why bed bugs are needed. They can serve as a food source for spiders, cockroaches, predators, ticks, millipedes. In ancient times, healers were convinced that bed bugs were able to neutralize snake venom.

  

• Parasites determine their prey by the smell of carbon dioxide. At what distance they feel it, is still a moot point. Modern sources claim that this distance is 2-2.5 meters. Naturalist Bernhard Grzimek, who devoted his life to the study and description of the animal world, is inclined to think that the smell of bugs is greatly exaggerated and they capture carbon dioxide at a distance of only 2.5 cm. »Route. It is enough to move the bed by 1-2 meters and for another 3 weeks the insects will wander in search of “lost hunting grounds”.

No less interesting fact concerns suspended animation, in which bed bugs stay in the absence of food supply. In this state, they actively swallow air and peculiar air bubbles form in the intestine. These traces of a hunger strike can be used as evidence in cases where a lawsuit occurs between the tenant and the landlord, proving the time the bug was in this room and the person responsible for the infection of the apartment.