Having found bites on their bodies in the morning, many blame them for the presence of mosquitoes and are completely unaware that bed bugs have started in the room.
More obvious traces of presence can be observed only after their numbers increase, when bloody specks and remnants of their vital activity appear on the bed.
Even the cleanest house is not a guarantee that any type of bug in it will not find its shelter. What are these parasites, where do they come from, how to recognize their presence and what measures exist to combat them.
Therefore, the topic of our today's article is bedbugs or homebugs: photos, how to get rid of at home.
What do bed bugs look like?
Bed bugs (cimex lectularius) are wingless parasitic insects with an oval flattened body and up to 8 mm. The color of the hungry parasite can be dirty yellow or dark brown. After the bed bug is filled with blood, the color changes to a scarlet or black tone, and the body itself becomes more rounded and sedentary.
The bite marks on the human body are clearly visible and resemble the tracks - several punctures are almost on the same line. Quite often, bites in children can cause an allergic reaction. What else are dangerous bugs read our respective articles.
The larvae resemble adults in appearance, but with smaller sizes and a lighter color, and recently hatched, they are generally transparent.
It is possible to notice them without difficulty only after the parasite has been saturated with blood. Then in his transparent little body the stomach with a drop of drunk blood is clearly visible.
The laid eggs of parasites resemble diminished rice grains. Elongated shape, white color and length of 1 mm.
Having glands with a special substance (secret), theyspecifically smell when crushed. In the people this unpleasant smell is called - a smell of a bug.
Difference from other parasites living in the house:
- The bug, unlike the cockroach, has no processes in the form of antennae and wings behind it. Its body is more round and smaller in size..
- To distinguish the bug from the tick need to count its legs. The tick is a spider-like parasite and has 8 limbs, but the bug is 6.
- It is harder to confuse a bug with an ant, but they have very similar larvae. Eggs first wider and shorter.
- Optimal temperature for the good life of the parasite is +15 - + 30ºС. These indicators are most often present in the bedroom of a person.
A photo
What do bed bugs look like? Photo below:
On the photo furniture bugs:
Reproduction and longevity
From the total period of insect life, the month goes to the larval phase. During this period, he is not able to multiply. All the rest of the time, females lay eggs, and males actively work as inseminators. One female postpones her life cycle up to 500 eggs, 4-5 pcs. for a day. The larva is displayed on the 5th day, and in a month it is an adult parasite capable of giving offspring.
How much does a bed bug live? Life expectancy room bug on average is about a year. If the parasite lives in rooms with low temperatures, its viability lasts up to 14 months. In rooms where the temperature is about 30ºС, the life cycle is reduced to 10 months, but then the number of eggs laid increases.
But speaking of life expectancy, do not forget about the ability of the parasite to survive in adverse conditions, when the temperature is not suitable or there is no food source.
It feeds on a parasite every 5-10 days at night and for one saturation drink up to 7 mg of blood, which is twice the weight of its weight.
But if the owners left the apartment for a long time or brought the furniture outside, the parasite will safely fall into anabiosis and in this condition may be hungry for a year. The chances of survival increase when the hunger strike is accompanied by lower air temperature.
In the fight against parasites, many take out the bed mattresses on the balcony in 10 ºС frost - it does not help. Thawed from the temporary rigor mortis, he pounced on food with even more appetite.
How to determine the presence of bedbugs in the room?
Due to the fact that the activity of these insects is manifested at night, their existence can be found only when the numbers increase significantly. But certain signs still can alert the residents of the house. These include:
- Bites appear on the body. They can be large or almost imperceptible (depending on the reaction of the human body). Especially bed bug likes to bite women and children. Their skin is more tender and bites more easily. Sami prokusov on the body will be several, due to the fact that the parasite, crawling through the body, looking for a more convenient place for sucking blood.
- Bed linen has red or brown specks.. These spots appear from crushed bugs, which fell under a person after they had already pumped blood. The body of a hungry bug is flat, which contributes to its movement, but after the parasite has eaten, it can easily burst under the weight of a person.
- On the bed, in the folds of upholstered sofas and in blankets you can detect remains of skins and eggs of the bugthat remained after molting. By the way, as a separate type of sofa bugs do not exist. They were so named from the habitat in the couch - these are ordinary bloodsuckers, their photos are shown above.
What is important for successful struggle with bedbugs? First of all, you need to know the enemy "by sight". We offer you detailed materials on whether bugs can live in clothes and what they feed on, what to smear on their skin so they won't bite, how to find and destroy their nests in the apartment, what traditional and folk remedies exist, whether prevention can help prevent pests. and how to prepare your home for disinfection.Fight against parasites
When the presence of parasites in the apartment was found immediately, they did not have time to multiply, you can use special preparations to treat their habitats. Drugs such as Actellic or Karbofos are sold in seed shops. You can also use aerosols and sprays "Combat", "Clean House", "Raptor", "Dichlorvos" or "Reid". But whichever drug is chosen, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules in its application, namely:
- strictly adhere to the instructions and during the processing room wear rubber gloves and gauze bandage(even if it is Masha's simple and familiar to everyone small);
- liquid preparations are sprayed with the help of spray guns - these are Tetrix, Geth, Tsifoks, Forsythe, Fufanon, Hangman, Cucaracha and others;
- especially carefully handled the accumulation of bed bugs: sofas, beds, blankets, pillows, wardrobes with clothes, carpets, various slots, baseboards, etc .;
- after processing the room doors and windows close tightly for several hours;
- after processing, clothes are washed in high temperature water and then ironed.
After processing the room, you can not immediately begin to clean it. The bugs are lively parasites and for a good result, you need to wait several hours for insecticide exposure.
In the winter season, frost can help in the fight against the parasite. At a temperature of -15 º C bug diesit will be enough to take out clothes, toys, books on the balcony. The principle of exposure to insect temperatures is based on the method of disinfection with hot or cold mist.
When bed bugs were discovered late, their number increased significantly, there is no point in independently combating them using vinegar for example, scarers or traps. The best solution in this case would be to seek help from a special parasitic destruction company or a sanitary epidemiological station.
Summarize. We found out what the bedbug looks like, photos are attached, how many live without food, how to effectively deal with bedbugs.
An overview of all modern anti-bed bug products can be found here at
In this article you will find a list of the most effective and safe ones.
Bedbugs are not the only pests in homes and apartments. We have prepared a whole series of materials on how to deal with ants, cockroaches, fleas, moths, wood lice and dust mites. Read in detail about how to get rid of moths by folk remedies, how to defeat yellow ants and expel black cockroaches from the house.
