Bed Bug Facts

• Adult bed bugs are about 1/8-inch long with reddish-brown, oval flattened bodies. The nymphs resemble the adults but are smalles and somewhat lighter in color.


• Bed bugs feed solely on the blood of animals. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, prefers feeding on humans, but will also bite other warm-blooded animals, including pets.


• They feed by piercing the skin with an elongated beak. The person seldom knows they have been bitten. Bite symptoms vary from an itchy welt or localized swelling to little or no reaction.


• Bed bugs do not fly but can move rapidly over floors, walls, ceilings and other surfaces. If necessary, they will crawl more than 100 feet to obtain a blood meal.


• Female bed bugs lay their eggsin secluded areas, depositing up to five a day and up to 500 during a lifetime.


• The eggs are whitish and hard to see on most surfaces without magnification. Individual eggs are about the size of a dust speck. When first laid, the eggs are sticky, causing them to adhere to whatever the surrounding they are in.


• Newly hatched nymphs are no bigger than a pin head. As they grow, they shed their skin five times before reaching maturity. A blood meal is needed between each successive molt.


• Under favorable conditions ( 70*F to 90*F), the bugs can complete development in as little as a month, producing three or more generations per year.


• Nymphs can survive months without feeding and the adults for more than a year. Infestations are therefore unlikely to diminish by leaving the premises unoccupied.


• Bed bugs are active mainly at night. During the daytime they prefer to hide close to where people sleep.


• Bed bugs do not have nest like ants or bees but do tend to congregate in habitual hiding places. Typically these areas are marked by dark spotting and staining. Also present will be eggs and eggshells, and molted skins of maturing nymphs.