11:05 p.m. - 2005-09-24
A Medieval Menace: Returned! Update 8/17/2006!
Greetings, all!
This week has brought colder weather to MN and a corresponding desire for me to eat a lot.
I also received my first reader request, from a critter lover named WR! This was very exciting to me, especially since the information she requested was about...bedbugs!
For reals, people, bedbugs. I've read stories about medieval times mentioning bedbugs, but apparently they are MAKING A COMEBACK!
Aieee, are you getting the heebie-jeebies yet? WR reported that one of her husband's co-workers had been attacked in the night by bedbugs!
So my curiosity was piqued, too. Apparently bedbugs were a problem to hominins since Neanderthal times up until the 1950's, when the arrival of the insecticide DDT helped to eradicate them.
But in third-world countries bedbugs are still menaces. In India, some babies have been made anemic by frequent bedbug bites.
Oh yes, bedbugs are bloodsuckers! There are two main varieties: Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug, and Cimex hemipterus, the tropical species. These are wingless insects, oval-shaped, reddish brown in color, and four to five millimeters in length. After feeding, they become more distinctly red! Like fleas, bedbugs are very flat, which helps them hide.
One of the reasons bedbugs are making a return is because of increased world travel. The bugs will travel along with people in luggage! Another cause of the bedbug renewal is the increase in gel-type insect traps. Since bedbugs are attracted to blood and warmth, they aren't interested in that kind of trap!
Usually bedbugs just bite humans at night. The insects locate people by feeling warmth and detecting carbon dioxide output. After eating, the bedbugs then congregate and rest under the mattress, in the frame of the bed, under the carpet, behind pictures, or behind wallpaper.
Here's a pic from www.vegsource.com: 
Unfortunately, bedbugs can live for a long time without eating. But when they're hungry they will bite during the day! Bedbugs will also infest the habitats of rodents, birds, rabbits and bats. They do not live on people or animals, just near enough for meals.
I'm not sure about the mating habits of bedbugs, but after the female's eggs have been fertilized, she will lay two to three eggs a day. Adult bedbugs live six months to a year, so the amount of eggs laid can be significant! These eggies are white and one millimeter long, and glued to rough, hard surfaces within the bedbug hiding spots. The young pass through five nymph stages, which takes six to eight weeks. The nymph must feed at least once in order to reach the next stage!
Wells Fargo/Bedbug larvae: How to reach the next stage! (Is that how the commercial goes?)
Bedbugs usually bite around the waist and limbs of humans. A one centimeter, itchy and swollen welt can appear up to nine days after a bite. Bedbug litter can provoke asthma in some people and severely allergic persons can die from being bitten. Like leeches, mosquitoes and other bloodsuckers, bedbugs inject an anti-coagulant into the bloodstream while they are feeding, which causes the reaction.
Here's a gross pic from www.gothamist.com: 
If you find bites like this, see your doctor, and search around your sleeping space to find the hiding bedbugs. Apparently the groups in which they live will have a sickly sweet smell. Another tell-tale sign is the presence of blood droplets on your sheets or furniture. To eradicate bedbugs, washing affected items in hot water and/or freezing them combined with insecticides are most effective. Since the bugs can live for a long time without eating, follow-up applications of insecticide are recommended.
Man, this has become a sort of serious entry! Can you imagine how terrible having bedbugs in your house must be? Obviously this insect species has developed a pretty smart system for staying alive and reproducing, over many thousands of years!
Thanks again to WT for suggesting this Critter Corner feature!
Bite in night,
Wendell.
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