By therandomsci / July 23, 2020
Bed bugs are insects that feed on human blood, usually at night. Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds and couches, and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces, about the width of a credit card. Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees but tend to live in groups in hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night. It has even been found in prostatic legs.
Bed bugs are the fastest growing pest control emergency in the world. They survive on the blood of mammals and insects, but they prefer human blood. They can crawl up to 30 meters in a night to find a meal.
Bed bugs have preyed on humans for at least 3,500 Years. Ancient Romans brewed them and drank them as a cure for snakebites. Egyptians also wrote about them. By comparing the mitochondrial markers in bed bugs population around the world we have learned that they originated in caves in the middle east, where they would have fed in bats. They get into diapause when the temperature is too hot or too cold.
Bed bugs can get into hibernation called diapause. It’s a deep sleep where the bed bugs shut off most of its metabolic processes and survive on its energy storage until it either runs out of energy or wakes up. Bed bugs can survive over a year without a meal.
Bed bugs inject you with aesthetic and anticoagulants so you don’t feel bitten and they can suck your blood easily. Bed bugs don’t spread most diseases.
1. Eggs and adult bed bugs will die in under 10 min if exposed to a temperature above 46◦ C.
2. DDT can kill the bed bugs but it is harmful to humans. It is ban in many countries.
3. Pyrethroids can be used to get rid of bed bugs but not completely.
4. Direct contact with steam can kill the bed bugs.
5. Bed bugs proof mattress can be effective if used properly over a year. But bed bugs are not just in bed they can hide anywhere in the house.
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