What does a house bug look like? What do bedbug bites look like? Bed bugs: photos and descriptions, varieties and reasons for appearing in an apartment, methods of control and prevention What small bed bugs look like

Bedding, furniture, bed, linen - these are all the same type of bug. It’s just that at different stages of development the insect differs in size and color. The nature of the food is always the same, but he chooses very different places in the apartment: from a warm, cozy bed to dark crevices under the baseboards.

In apartments with perfect cleanliness And high-quality repairs there may also be bedbugs

Bedbugs easily penetrate apartments on any floor. Thanks to their flat body, they crawl through narrow cracks and hide in the most inaccessible places for humans. Bed bugs cannot fly or jump, but they can move very quickly. They climb to great heights and easily crawl over external walls houses from one window to another. Bedbugs cover the distance between apartments quickly, so if they have appeared in the apartment of one of your neighbors, they will soon appear in yours too.

How do bedbugs get into the house?

Why are bedbugs dangerous for humans?

For humans, bedbugs do not pose a potential danger, but they significantly reduce the quality of life in general. They are nocturnal, so they interfere with proper sleep. Bedbugs become active in the second half of the night, closer to the morning, as a result of which a person constantly does not get enough sleep. Red dots appear at the bite sites, which itch and take a long time to heal, and sometimes allergic reactions occur.

Young children suffer the most from bedbug bites. The fact is that children's skin is much more delicate and thinner than that of an adult, and the blood vessels are located closer to the surface of the body. In addition, children are more likely to experience allergic reactions to bedbug bites: blisters may appear, and in rare cases even angioedema. The wounds are painful, very itchy and take a long time to heal, and the child constantly tries to scratch them, which can lead to infection.
Children often develop blisters at the sites of bites.

Bite adult painless, which cannot be said about the larva. The fact is that the saliva of adult bedbugs contains a special anesthetic substance. It anesthetizes the bite, and the bloodsucker peacefully sucks blood until it is completely saturated.

Habitats of bedbugs in the apartment

in a bed, bed linen, mattress - on the underside, in the folds of the seams;
in the cracks of parquet or laminate, the space under baseboards, places where linoleum lags behind the floor;
behind and under furniture, at the joints of sofas, soft chairs. Under the upholstery and between furniture design parts;
on the walls - behind the paintings, under the wallpaper in places where they lag;
under ceiling skirting boards and panels, tension fabrics;
in carpets and carpets, under the carpet, if it is poorly glued to the floor;
inside sockets and switches.

Bed bugs can find many hidden places in an apartment.

How to find out if there are bedbugs in your house

There are several signs that suggest the presence of bedbugs in an apartment:

bites on the body after sleep;
traces of droppings on the sheets in the form of black dots;
blood stains if a well-fed insect was accidentally crushed during sleep.

Finding black traces of excrement on the sheets and mattress is one of the first signs of bedbugs in the house

It is not difficult to identify bedbugs. Most often they prefer bedrooms. Having found a nest, you will see the entire bedbug family there: adults Brown, larvae different sizes, painted in bright hues, and a large number of small white eggs.

What do bedbugs look like at different stages of development?

After bites appear or droppings are found on the bed, do the following:

Carefully inspect your sleeping area.
Lift the mattress and look under it - there should be no black spots from droppings and, of course, bedbugs themselves.
Examine the seams of the mattress.
If there is wallpaper in the room, then inspect the places where it lags behind the walls.
Look under the linoleum where you can do this.
Inspect the cracks in the corners of the baseboards. To do this, you can use a flashlight.
Examine outlets and switches. It is best to do this in the early morning, when bedbugs are most active. You can often see black droppings.
Inspect the upholstered furniture from the inside. At the joints of the upholstery and wooden base Bedbug nests are often found.
Look under the furniture. You can use a regular broom and sweep the floor. If there are bedbugs in your house, you will probably find them in the dust.
Move aside cabinets and chests of drawers. Inspect back walls furniture and the walls themselves.
Lift the rugs off the floor and examine the underside.
Take a good sniff during the inspection. Bed bugs emit a sweetish smell of cognac, so in places where they accumulate you will feel this characteristic aroma.

Bed bugs are most difficult to identify in their early stages. If they have managed to multiply and thoroughly settle in the apartment, finding them will not be difficult.
In the bedbugs you can see individuals at all stages of development

Photo gallery: favorite places of bedbugs

How to get rid of bedbugs in an apartment

Chemicals

TO chemicals relate:

Pyrethrin-based powders are effective and relatively safe for humans and animals.

The powder must be carefully scattered in all places where bedbugs may accumulate.

. They are easy to use and much more effective than other means, however, not all of them are approved for use in an apartment or even in a detached private house, as they are harmful to health;

aquafumigator "Raptor". It does not produce smoke, but water vapor with cyphenothrin, an insecticide safe for humans and animals;

Using an aquafumigator, you can treat your apartment without fear for your health.

professional disinfestation. Now specialists often use “cold fog”, which penetrates everything hard to reach places. It is worth noting that this service is not cheap, but the effect occurs the first time.

In the last years of my life, my family and I had to wander around rented apartments, one of which turned out to have bedbugs. They made themselves known on the first night. To my horror, the next morning I discovered red bites on my legs and stomach. The five-year-old child was completely bitten. The treatment of the premises began the very next day.

Before this, I already had experience fighting bedbugs in rural house my grandmother. Then aerosols and powders were used. The fight turned out to be quite effective, but very labor-intensive. We had to first look for places of settlement of the bedbug family, and then treat them. The bedbugs returned several more times, because with a high probability not all nests were found and treated.

This time there was neither time nor desire to look for bedbugs, and besides, you don’t really “manage” in someone else’s apartment. You can’t tear down the skirting boards, you can’t move the heavy Soviet wall full of books and various rubbish from the wall. And I didn’t want to take apart the sockets. The choice fell on a smoke bomb.

At that time it was January outside the window, and the frost was serious. Therefore, everything that could be taken out into the street was taken out. Carpets and paths were “laid” on the snow, and old mattress They sent him to an unglazed balcony, where he successfully spent the whole day. Soft folding chair They also took it out into the yard in the hope that no one would steal it. Children's toys and dishes were tightly packed in plastic bags. Since it was a day off, I, along with all the family members and the cat, went to visit friends. Returning home, we ventilated the apartment well and brought back the chair and mattress. Bed linen was washed at +90 °C. Despite bad smell After using a smoke bomb and the fear of being bitten again, the night after the treatment was surprisingly calm. Two weeks later, the apartment was re-treated, and after that the bedbugs no longer bothered us.

Folk remedies

Among folk ways highlight:

Preventing the appearance of bedbugs in the house

To prevent bedbugs from ever infesting your home, take the following measures:

At least in order to identify a bloodsucker at the first meeting, even an accidental one, it will be useful to have an idea of how. Photos of these insects, as well as their larvae and eggs, are given below...

What does a bug look like?

The bed bug is quite distinct from all other bugs. And in general, it is not difficult to recognize it among other domestic insects. Look at the photos:

The main difference between the bedbug and water strider bug is the lack of wings. This feature distinguishes it well from cockroaches. Due to the absence of wings, the bedbug has clearly visible boundaries of the abdominal segments - its entire body seems to be stretched several times over with stripes.

An adult bed bug is dark brown in color. If he is hungry, then the width of his abdomen is almost the same as its length. After feeding, the abdomen stretches, and the insect itself becomes longer. Average body length bed bug is 5-6 mm.

This is interesting…

After a full meal, the body length of the bed bug almost doubles. During one feeding, the bug itself consumes twice as much blood as it weighs. In the photo below you can see how the shape and size of the insect’s body changes during the feeding process.

In addition, after saturation with human blood, the house bug becomes somewhat darker, and hungry individuals can even be light red. The photo below clearly shows the differences between dark and well-fed bedbugs and their lighter, hungry relatives:

Bedbug nest: is it it?

Bed bugs do not create nests in the truest sense of the word. In general, there is no organization in their clusters. However, due to the fact that they prefer to hide in the same places, the places where they are concentrated very quickly begin to look like they are quite well inhabited and equipped. They are called nests.

A typical example of a bloodsucker nest is shown in the photo:

As a rule, such a nest contains a large number of bedbugs different ages. Here, eggs, developing and already empty, insect excrement and the remains of the chitinous covering of their bodies that have fallen after molting are scattered in disarray. Such a cluster itself gives the impression of a very untidy, dirty place.

A characteristic feature of bed bugs is their accumulation in large quantities in order to retain heat. A typical bedbug nest looks like a continuous moving mass of their bodies. This behavior is not observed in cockroaches.

The location of the nest is also important. Bedbugs most often concentrate in sofas, beds, behind carpets, in closets, where they can easily find narrow crevices and from where they can quickly get to a sleeping person. At the same time, ants and cockroaches prefer dirty ventilation ducts and kitchens.

The photo below shows characteristic bedbug bites:

When exterminating bedbugs, it is better to immediately use modern insecticidal preparations, without wasting time on outdated and ineffective folk methods of control such as kerosene and vinegar (see). When choosing a product, it is useful to focus not only on its effectiveness, but also pay attention to the absence of odor, efficiency and safety for humans.

What is especially important to know about bed bugs

Video: 5 rules for choosing an insect extermination service

In the last century, bedbugs were considered a common occurrence and were not a curiosity. The new generation of insect control products released - pesticides and poisons - managed to destroy the majority of bloodsuckers. But not everyone! The most resistant ones have managed to adapt to the poison, and continue to disturb old buildings and new houses with their presence.

Types of bedbugs

Bedbugs are the largest order of insects. Currently, more than 30,000 varieties are known. In most cases, the word “bug” evokes wild horror and is associated with bloodsuckers. However, not all of them cause harm to humans and some of them can even be useful. Types of bedbugs characteristic of our area:

Brightly colored insect. Found throughout our country. At any time of the year, except winter, it lives in plant leaves and grass. It is not difficult to notice, since soldier bugs settle in colonies. He is unpretentious to food and is content with little. The juice of the plant, which it sucks out with its proboscis, is enough. The photo shows a representative of this species.

It's easy to guess why it's called that. Bedbugs have a well-developed sense of smell, and in case of danger, they release their scent. Absolutely harmless to humans. It feeds on plant sap and can be found on any vegetation. It appears in the apartment in search of shelter or creeps in by accident. Looking at the photo, you will probably remember it.

This type of insect causes significant damage to grain crops. Noticing it is not special labor, since they live in colonies and attack vegetation together. During the period of formation and ripening of ears, the activity of the harmful turtle reaches its peak. Females lay eggs and larvae begin to emerge after 1 week. Throughout the entire period of their development, they will live on grain crops and cause damage to the plant.

Photo of the pest.

Forest and field bugs do not pose a danger to humans. They end up in housing by accident and don’t stay there for long.
Many have heard about such bloodsuckers, and those who have had to deal with them know what they look like. It is difficult to spot an insect for several reasons. Firstly, it is very small. Secondly, it is nocturnal.

The body length of a hungry bug is only 3 mm. The body is flat and almost transparent, with a brownish tint. Consists of separate segments that are able to expand as food arrives. Thanks to this, a well-fed insect changes shape - it becomes round and increases to 8 mm. What do bed bugs look like? , look at the photos and videos.

Pierces the skin with a proboscis. The small jaws have two canals. The first is for the injection of poisonous saliva with an analgesic. Thanks to this, the person does not feel the bites, and the insect eats calmly. The second one is intended for eating.

The body is covered with villi and protected by a durable shell. It is simply impossible to crush a hungry bug, even if you press hard on it. A well-fed one can be destroyed with the slightest effort.

Females are always larger than males. In the photo the female is located at the bottom.

The behavior of a hungry and a well-fed bug is very different. The first one is very fast and agile. Able to climb onto the ceiling and from there dive onto a sleeping person. A well-fed insect is slow and clumsy.

Bedbugs amaze with their fertility. One female is enough for your home to be filled with insects in 2 weeks. In a couple of months you won't know how to get rid of them. The female lays an average of 5-12 larvae per day and 300-500 throughout her life.

Eggs white, 1 mm long and look like grains of rice. The picture can be clearly seen in the photo.

Bedbug eggs are found in one place and are easier to detect than adults. The ripening period is 1 week. They are not afraid of temperature changes and are insensitive to most chemicals.

Immediately after hatching they are able to drink blood. To start the mechanism of maturation, the larva needs to taste blood at least once. This explains the activity of insects in the first week of their appearance. Unlike an adult bedbug, they are unable to release an analgesic when bitten. Therefore, bites are felt immediately and the bedbug can be killed quite easily.

It takes 1 month to turn into a full-fledged bug. During this time, the insect changes its chitinous shell 5 times. It increases in size and darkens. Because of their transparent color, they are often called nymphs.

See the photo for the process of turning a larva into an adult bedbug.

The larva of a bed bug leads the same lifestyle as an adult. It differs in the volume of food absorbed and the number of bites made.

The insect lives for a year or a year and a half. When the temperature drops below 18 degrees Celsius, it goes into hibernation. It exists in a hungry state for six months. During this time it turns into a transparent, flat bug. Looks like he's dead. When the temperature is optimized, it comes to life and leads a normal life. Afraid low temperatures from – 15 ⁰С and high – from + 49 ⁰С.

Where do bedbugs come from in an apartment?

These insects love to travel. They happily change from one home to another, and quickly adapt to new living conditions. Often people themselves help them in this, but they don’t even know about it.

You can safely bring them into your home from guests or bring them back from vacation.

Buy furniture infested with bedbugs. Not only consignment furniture can be infested with bedbugs, but also completely new furniture.

Place furnishings in your home from the place where the insects lived. Before you bring anything into your home, it is advisable to inspect it.

A pet can bring a bedbug into your apartment.

There are times when they appear in the house thanks to birds and bats.

Cracks in the walls and ventilation hatches open the way for insects from neighbors. In 1 minute, the bug crawls more than 1 meter. Capable of covering a distance of 30 meters. If in multi-storey building If you have an apartment with bedbugs, there is a chance that they will appear everywhere.

Bedbugs lead active image life at night. When visiting an infected premises during the day, you can rest assured that they will not move to you. In bright light, insects hide in secluded crevices and disguise their existence. If you had to spend the night in such a room, then during this time the female will have time to lay eggs in the folds of her clothing or settle there herself. By bringing them into your home, you will start a new population of bedbugs.

Bed bugs crawl out to hunt at night. The most favorable time for them is from 3 to 8 o'clock. The bug pierces the skin with its proboscis and releases an analgesic, thereby numbing the process. They do this until they come across a capillary with blood. See photo.

Eating in a larva lasts 3 minutes, in an adult insect – 8-10 minutes. Having had enough, the bug moves away to the side. The effect of the analgesic ceases after 15 minutes. The person begins to feel severe itching. However, the insect had already crawled away during this time.

Proven method!

In order to detect bedbugs in time during bites, you need to turn on the light suddenly and lift the blanket.

People with delicate, well-groomed skin are attacked - it is easier to bite through. (What to apply against bedbugs) Women and children suffer more. The bite resembles a mosquito bite, but with a clearly visible boundary. (How to distinguish a bug bite from a mosquito) The distance between them is about 4 cm. Those located close to each other merge into a large red spot.

The domestic bug feeds once every 7 days. But bite marks may appear every 2-3 days. They can survive without food for more than a month.

Consequences of bites

Severe itching and pain appears.

Nervous exhaustion – bedbugs prevent you from sleeping at night and preventing you from working during the day.

For sensitive skin there is allergic reaction, increased body temperature, sometimes loss of consciousness.

Pustules may appear when wounds become infected.

Children suffer from bedbug bites extremely hard. With constant attack by predatory insects, anemia may develop.

How are bites treated?

Special treatment is required in rare cases. Basically, itching and redness are eliminated with hormonal ointments and antihistamines. If an infection occurs, a course of antibiotics is taken. Fenistil gel, Golden Star balm, Afloderm ointment, Bepanten and some others are excellent.

Sometimes you can do without medications.

Rinse skin soap solution. Good fit laundry soap or antibacterial.

Apply ice cubes to the bites.

For quick healing, tinctures of calendula, St. John's wort, and plantain are used.

Dilute baking soda in water and moisten the affected areas.

Bedbugs - symptoms of infection

House bugs are insidious insects. They do not give themselves away in any way in the first days of their existence. Bites on the body are mistaken for fleas, mosquitoes or other insects that are not so harmful. At this time, insects actively reproduce and colonize the territory at night. By the time you finally find them, they have already settled into your home. What should you pay attention to?

Bites on the body

They bite painlessly. An analgesic is administered to dull the pain. Choose places where the skin is most sensitive:

hands;

legs;

shoulders;

face,

less often the back.

The reaction to bites depends on individual characteristics body. In 20% of people they do not manifest themselves at all. For others, it’s a series of pimples that itch a lot. Still others need urgent help, as a severe allergic reaction appeared. You can see in the photo clear example night attack.

Traces of blood on the bed

Stains on bedding appear for two reasons:

After the bite, the blood from the wound continues to bleed and smear the bed.

Linen bugs, having had their fill, become clumsy and vulnerable. With your movements, you can crush them, and the blood can get on the sheet.

The photo shows a clear picture.

Black dots

Waste products. You can notice them due to their quantity, since they themselves are very small in size, 0.5–1 mm. Traces from bedbugs remain in places where they accumulate or in close proximity to them.

How it looks, look at the photo.

Traces of shedding

Bed bugs are susceptible to molting. Husks and skins remain near the insect nest. If you managed to see such a picture, you are on the right track. See photo for what it looks like.

The smell of bedbugs

When a room is heavily infested, a cloying, sweetish smell begins to appear. Reminds me of the smell of rotten raspberries or almonds. Furniture bugs have scent glands. They emit a scent to repel enemies and when reproducing. If you suddenly smell such a smell, it’s time to start searching in earnest.

How to detect bedbugs in your home

Bedbugs like warmth and darkness. Most often they settle under the mattress, in the sofa, in the folds of bedding or the seams of upholstered furniture. They prefer certain types of material:

textile;

plastic;

tree;

paper.

They don’t like metal structures, cold and moisture and move away from there.

Common Habitats

Bed frame, mattress, cushioned furniture, blankets, pillows, bedding.

Storage places under the sofa are drawers for linen.

Furniture in the bedroom - chests of drawers, lamps, clocks, paintings, photographs.

Curtains, cornices, blinds, switches, sockets.

Cracks in the walls and places where wallpaper and parquet have peeled off.

Skirting boards.

Carpets and carpet runners.

Books on the shelves.

Window and door frames, mirrors on the walls.

In pets' sleeping areas.

Prepare yourself for the fact that the picture you see will be unpleasant. How this can be, look at the photo.

The opinion that bedbugs live in old and dirty rooms is considered incorrect. This is far from true. They can calmly exist in a house where there is complete cleanliness, chic and shine. Therefore, do not waste time, but start searching for bedbugs.

Methods for killing bedbugs

After discovering insects, the question arises: “What to do with them next?” It is best to seek help from special services to combat harmful insects. In fact, this is done as a last resort.

They are destroyed in three ways:

Physical;

Mechanical;

Chemical.

Considered the most effective last option. Chemicals are able to rid even a heavily contaminated room within 2-3 weeks. This requires two disinfections: the main one and to maintain the effect. . The photo shows how this should happen.

Photo– bed disinfection.

Ideally, all three methods are used together. To achieve maximum results in a short time. As practice shows, bedbugs easily adapt to most chemicals and become invulnerable. Fighting them is a very labor-intensive and lengthy process.

Bed bugs are not that uncommon these days. By studying detailed information about these insects, you will be able to respond to their presence in time and take the necessary measures.

Numbering 40 thousand species. Most of them have nothing to do with humans. Some species harm agricultural crops, but there are even beneficial ones: they eat caterpillars and aphids. From early spring to late autumn, representatives of this suborder of insects from the order Hemiptera bask in the sun, pleasing our eyes with colorful “outfits”. Everyone knows, for example, what a soldier bug looks like. But there is one species that everyone remembers contact with as a nightmare.

Getting to know the bedbug

In most cases, a person does not immediately realize that he has communicated with this insect. He doesn’t know what a bug looks like, but he feels traces of its presence “in his own skin.” If you wake up for several days in a row and find bite marks on your skin, you should think about it. It could be a bug.

At the beginning of the last century, bedbugs were not a novelty. After they began to be poisoned with pesticides and other poisons, they almost disappeared. But not all. Probably, the surviving representatives have adapted to the first generation of pesticides and no longer react to them. Now bedbugs have begun to appear everywhere again. And not only in poor areas, but also in modern new buildings.

Appearance

What do bed bugs (photo) look like, whether they are house or bed or linen bugs?

This different names the same insect. It has a body flattened at the top and bottom without wings. The body of a bedbug does not contain water. The length depends on the amount of blood drunk. It is said about him: “The well-fed are not a friend to the hungry.” Having eaten, the bug increases not only in width, but also in length. A hungry person reaches only 3 mm, a well-fed one - 8 mm. By the way a bedbug looks, you can judge how long ago it has been eating. Its color depends on this. It ranges from dirty yellow (hungry), scarlet (just eaten) to dark brown (has been eating for a long time). The contours of the body also depend on the amount of food eaten: a hungry person is oval, a well-fed person is round.

Let's take a closer look at what bedbugs look like (photo). Pet vampires have a body covered with hairs that can only be seen under a microscope. Females are larger than males. The bug has a proboscis with which it pierces the skin. There are two canals in the small jaws. One is for introducing poisonous saliva with an analgesic, the other is for sucking blood.

What does a well-fed bedbug look like? It is very different from being hungry. Well-fed - slow, round in appearance. Hungry - flat and nimble: in search of food, it can climb onto the ceiling and glide down on the victim, like an autumn leaf.

The bug's body consists of segments, which helps it stretch when eating and avoid mechanical damage. It is almost impossible to crush a hungry bug. And when you’re full, it’s very easy, even with gentle pressure.

Stages of development

A bug goes through several stages during its life:

egg;
larva;
adult (imago).

The female lays 5-12 eggs daily (there can be up to 500 eggs in total during her life). Attaches to the surface using a special secret. The egg is milky white, shaped like a grain of rice, but much smaller - up to 1 mm. Not afraid of cold and poison. Therefore, when processing the apartment, the eggs remain undamaged.

What they look like They look similar to an adult bedbug, but smaller in size and much lighter. That's why they are called nymphs.

The larva emerges from the egg within a week. She immediately begins to move and is ready to drink blood. At first the nymph is transparent, so you can see the blood she drinks through her skin. The larva molts (sheds its shell) five times, each time first drinking blood. After molting it increases in size. After 6 weeks the larva turns into an adult. If development conditions are unfavorable, the process is delayed up to 4 months.

The bug lives actively for a year and a half. But if the room temperature drops below 18 ⁰C, it can hibernate (anabiosis) and starve for another year and a half. What does a bed bug look like in a state of suspended animation? It will become thin and transparent, almost dry, seemingly dead. But this impression is deceptive. After the temperature rises, the bug comes to life, finds food and continues its life cycle. They do not tolerate frosts below -15 ⁰С and heat from 49 ⁰С.

Where do bedbugs live?

Where they are difficult to find and neutralize: inside furniture, under baseboards. This implies the answer to the question: “What does it look like? This is another name for homemade.

They also hide in books and electronics. In old things, cracks in walls and floors. In animal cells. They live in dirty and clean rooms.

In the habitats of ticks there are adults, larvae, their skins, eggs and excrement.

Therefore, if you don’t know what house bugs look like, you need to carefully examine them. secluded places in the bedroom and look for these clusters.

Ways to enter the house

Through cracks in the walls, ventilation hatches. An adult bug travels 1 m 25 cm in a minute, a larva - up to 25 cm. It can travel up to 30 m in search of food.
With old furniture.
With any interior items, if they were in a room infested with bedbugs.
In the clothes of family members or guests.
Clinging to a pet.

Often the apartment owner does not know what house bugs look like, does not notice their bites, and therefore does not fight them. In this case, their numbers quickly increase. Through cracks, bedbugs penetrate into neighboring apartments. The owners, having discovered unexpected guests, trying to destroy them. But they come again and again, and their flow does not dry up.

How and when do bedbugs bite?

An anesthetic substance is released through a channel in the jaw. The person does not feel the bite and does not react to it. The bug begins to suck blood. One feeding session for a nymph lasts 3 minutes, for an adult - 8-10 minutes. Having eaten, the bug crawls back to its habitat and digests the food. After 15 minutes, the bite site begins to itch. But the insect is no longer nearby. You might not notice that there was a laundry bug. What does the bed look like in the morning? Drops of blood remain on it from crushed bedbugs that did not have time to escape. The spots darken by morning. During the day, the “bloodsuckers” are not visible. At night (from 3 o'clock in the morning) bedbugs go out hunting. The proboscis pierces the skin and soft fabrics until a capillary is found.

Nymphs do not know how to inject an analgesic, so the injection is heard immediately. But their proboscis is very thin, and the bite may not be noticeable.

If there are a lot of bedbugs and they are hungry, they can attack under electric light and even during the day. There is an opinion that they bite more people with delicate skin and do not like the smell of tobacco.

What do bed bug bites look like?

After the bite of one individual, a trail of several punctures is left, located one from the other at a distance of up to 4 cm. From each hole, the insect drinks several drops of blood. If bedbugs are just settling in, there may be several bites, which will make it difficult to make a diagnosis. But usually there are several dozen tracks.

Each of the bites is similar to a mosquito, but with a clear limiting line. The area near the penetration site quickly swells and turns red, and severe burning and itching begins.

The distance between bites can be several millimeters. Then they merge into a continuous swollen and itchy spot. What does a bug bite look like? The photo below shows: in its place, red lumps with liquid form.

Bedbugs bite areas of the skin not covered by clothing: arms, legs, neck, bare back. They cannot bite through fabric like a mosquito. A open areas there will always be. After all, the bug works silently. You won’t even hear a squeak from him, like a mosquito.

After a few hours, the swelling goes away and the bites stop itching. By evening, barely noticeable dots usually remain. But if you scratch, which is very likely, the blisters may remain for several weeks.

Damage caused by bites

Pain and itching prevent you from sleeping peacefully at night and from working during the day.
Allergic reactions occur with increased sensitivity. The temperature may rise, Quincke's edema may occur, and sometimes anaphylactic shock.
When wounds get infected, there is a high probability of ulcers occurring.
If a small child is bitten by bedbugs for a long time, he may develop anemia.
These insects carry pathogens of typhoid, smallpox, tularemia, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. Some scientists are confident that bedbugs can infect humans with them. But this has not been proven by science.

How to find out that there are bedbugs in the apartment

To understand who is biting you, you need to find him. About 70% of people, mostly men, do not react to bedbugs. They are not affected by the substance administered by insects. But bugs bite everyone. If you find small dark spots of blood on your bed in the morning, you need to be wary. It could very well be bedbugs. To check, at night you should turn on the light suddenly and carefully examine yourself, the sheets, and the walls near the bed.

A sharp smell of almonds or raspberries appearing out of nowhere may also indicate the presence of bedbugs.

Differences from other insects

Bedbugs are often confused with cockroaches, lice, and ants. After all, most of them, fortunately, are almost never found.

Main differences:

Bedbugs don't have nests, ants do;
cockroaches have wings, bedbugs do not (more precisely, they do, but are underdeveloped);
bedbugs bite the open part of the body, lice bite the closed part;
other insects have no smell.

How to distinguish bedbug bites

Even doctors cannot always do this. But there are still a number of differences.

Mosquito bites are not that painful. Traces from bedbugs are redder, placed in paths and groups.
During a bite, a tick sits in the wound for a long time, burying its head in it and filling with blood; the bug runs away.
Bee and wasp stings are more painful.
Bedbugs bite at night and indoors.
If you have an allergy, there is no trace of the proboscis left on the red spot.

More than 70% of people do not notice the bites of bed bugs, as a result of which the population of the latter in the apartment increases significantly.

The first discomfort appears when there are too many bites, the immune system weakens and allergies begin to appear. Then the question of exterminating bedbugs is acute: this task must be completed as soon as possible safe methods. But this is where the problem arises: there are many ways, but whether they are effective is a completely different question.

Photo of what house bugs (bed bugs) look like

Where do bedbugs come from in the house?

Having found out what pests look like and finding them in his bed, a person wonders where they came from. Many are perplexed: the apartment is clean, and the neighbors do not suffer from this problem. But in fact, dirt and sloppiness of the owners are not a condition for the presence of insects in the apartment. Insects need warmth, a source of food and secluded hiding places, which are easy to find in every home. So where do bedbugs come from? They creep in from neighbors, come with new antique furniture, are carried through clothes from friends, or appear as a result of long-distance migration.

Chemistry and SES against bedbugs

non-toxic for people and animals;
have no odor;
destroy bedbugs for up to 3-6 months (good prevention);
destruction is possible when people and animals are in the premises;
easy to use;
the effect appears instantly.

Folk remedies are the best prevention

Various photos of solutions and how to destroy bedbugs with them can be found on the Internet. Destruction of bedbugs traditional methods useful and effective only when there are not many of them. However, it is better to use them than to do nothing, because bedbug nests are truly terrifying. Many people know how to get rid of bedbugs and eliminate them forever, but they resort to ineffective methods.