The
common bed bug (Cimex lectularius Linnaeus) probably received its name
from its close association with human bedding. Bed bugs often seek refuge
in bedding during the day and feed on the bed's occupants at night. These
insects are known by several names: wall louse, house bug, mahogany flat,
red coat, and crimson ramblers, to name a few.
It has never been proven that bed bugs are disease carriers in the United
States. They are spread mainly by clothing and baggage of travelers and
visitors, secondhand beds, bedding materials, furniture, and laundry.
The mature bed bug is a brown- to mahogany-colored, wingless insect. Its
size depends on how recently it has eaten a blood meal. An unfed bed bug
is between 1/4 and 3/8 inches long.
Bed bug eggs are white and about 1/3-inch long. Under favorable conditions
the female bed bug lays about 200 eggs at the rate of 3 or 4 per day.
Heavily used hiding places are evident by black or brown spots of dried
blood excrement on the surfaces where the bugs rest. Eggs, egg shells, and
cast skins may be found near these places. Usually there is an offensive
odor where bed bugs are numerous. In early infestations the bed bugs are
found only about the tufts, seams, and folds of mattresses and daybed
covers; later they spread to cracks and crevices in the bedsteads. If
allowed to multiply, they establish themselves behind baseboards, window
and door casings, pictures, and moldings, and in furniture, loosened
wallpaper, and cracks in plaster and partitions.
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