What are Bedbugs? How Do I Know I have Bedbugs?

Bedbugs are not necessarily always waiting in the bed for a human host. They can be nearby and are drawn by the heat source and the CO² exhaled by the human. They puncture the skin using two tube-like appendages. One tube injects saliva (containing an anesthetic and anticoagulant) to the site. The second tube withdraws the blood from the host. Because of the anesthetic, bites may not be detected for several minutes or even hours. Individuals who are not allergic to the bedbugs' saliva may show bite reactions. Bite patterns in a cluster or row may indicate that the bed bug was interrupted during feeding.

Bedbugs can live for up to 18 months without feeding on blood. In the absence of a host, they can go into a stage of dormancy. A female bedbug can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime. Because the eggs are as small as two grains of salt, they are very difficult to detect by the human eye. Scent-detection canines, such as Bella, can detect the presence of eggs in a room by their unique odor.

While bedbug infestation was a major problem prior to the mid-Twentieth Century¹, the advent of pesticides reduced the problem greatly thereafter. However, there has been a resurgence of bed bugs. There are two theories for this: the problem is growing dramatically due to the prevalence of human International travel OR bedbugs are also hosting on birds and bats which are facilitating their spread.

What can you do to minimize bedbugs when traveling? These tips are provided courtesy of Wikipedia.org:

• Examine the room for potential hiding places of bedbugs, such as carpet edges, mattress seams, pillow case linings, head boards, wall trim or other tiny crevices in which bedbugs could hide.
• Look specifically at the mattress seams for signs of bedbug activity: droppings, eggs, bloodstains or even bedbugs themselves, hiding in tiny folds and seam lines.
• Keep a flashlight nearby while sleeping to immediately observe suspected activity during the night without having to get up out of bed which would otherwise give them time to hide in safety.
• Do not leave clothing lying on the bed, or any location of possible infestation (as mentioned above) and instead, using hangers or hooks capable of keeping all cloth distant from the floor or bed. Suspend new shopping in bags the same way.
• Close all luggage (suitcase, travel bag etc.) when not in use. This way, during the night the bugs may move over the top of the bags and have difficulty getting inside.

Bedbugs (or bed bugs) are insects which belong to the Cimicidae family. Cimex lectularius are commonly referred to as "bedbugs" because they typically live in mattresses, upholstery, sofas and other furniture. Similar to mosquitoes, bedbugs live by hematophagy ... that is feeding on the blood of humans or other mammals.