Bed Bug

Family Cimicidae

• Appearance: Adults are beyween ¼" and 3/8"; rusty red/brown to mahogany coloured; oval shaped and wingless.
• Habits: Feed at night or at any other time if the room is dark; live in bedclothes, mattresses, bedsprings and frames, soft furnishings, cracks and crevices, and under wallpaper.
• Diet: Bloodsucking parasites of humans, but may also feed on bats, chickens and some domestic animals; after feeding they become swollen, longer and dark red to dark brown in colour.
• Reproduction: Females can lay between 200 to 500 sticky, white eggs in batches of 10 to 50; eggs are about 1/3" long and are laid in crackes or crvices, never on humans; complete life cycle ranges from five weeks to 4 months depending on the temperature and availability of food.
• Other Information: Bed bug bites are painless but it is their saliva that can cause irritation, swelling and redness; when there are many of them there is often a bad smell.