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Order: Hemiptera, the Bedbug.
At one time bedbugs were considered a pest of slums and poor properties, but now much reduced by higher standards of hygiene. Bed bugs are parasitic insects from the genus Cimex that feed exclusively on human blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. They tend to be most prevalent in apartment buildings, hotels and motels, where there is a rapid turnover of residents. They are transported mainly on luggage from one site to another. Regarded by most with abhorrence, this bug is not a carrier of disease.
Males, females and nymphs are all obligate blood suckers. Bedbugs feed at night and are not evident during the day, preferring to hide in the cracks and crevices of walls, mattresses, head boards and furniture in close proximity to their sleeping host. The adult female must have a blood meal before egg laying. Eggs are cemented to surfaces close to the host in batches of 10 or more. Nymphs must have at least one feed between moults, typically nymphs undergo 5 moults. In her lifetime a female may lay 300 to 500 eggs. Her life span can be as short as 45 days up to 12 months depending on conditions.
In heavy infestations the stink glands produce an objectionable smell. When Bedbugs bite their host, saliva with anticoagulant properties are injected. Bedbugs have a tendency to test bite which often results in a line of bites.
An essential first step in the treatment of Bedbugs is to determine the extent of infestation. Quite often treatment is required to adjoining rooms, rooms opposite and in cases of multi-level buildings rooms above and below should be treated. Eliminating bed bugs from a site is often difficult, partly because bed bugs can survive up to approximately 300 days without a blood feed. Repeated treatments of a site may be required. These treatments may include heating the room to 50 °C for more than 90 minutes, frequent vacuuming, washing clothing at high temperatures, and the use of various pesticides. Where possible rooms should be thoroughly cleaned prior to treatment. Vacuum carefully, including mattresses, carpets, curtains, and upholstered furniture. Careful treatment to cracks and crevices with a registered pesticide is required, broadly the methods of application involved may be surface spraying, crack and crevice with aerosols, space spraying and where appropriate, dusting.
