A bedbug doesn’t hurt when it bites and it doesn’t carry any disease; however, it can still be a nuisance. Some people experience an allergic reaction to the bite, while others scratch the bite areas and irritate the skin. But even without skin irritations, just knowing you are going to be a blood meal can cause you to not want to sleep in your bed or can cause you to lose sleep.

What does a bedbug look like?
Bedbugs are parasites, often mahogany or brown in color or red after it has had a blood meal. Its flat, broad, oval body has six legs, antennae, and it is about ¼ to 3/8 of an inch in size. Bedbugs don’t fly, but they do have incredible flat bodies that help them to hide in tiny cracks and crevices.

What is the life cycle of a bedbug?
The adult female lays one to 12 eggs per day on a rough surface or in the cracks and crevices where it hides. Nymphs emerge from the eggs six to 17 days later ready to eat. The nymphs need a blood meal to molt and they reach maturity after molting five times. If the temperature is moderate, the life cycle from egg to adult can take place in less than a month. If food is scarce and the temperature is not ideal, the nymph period can be prolonged for months. Adult bedbugs are known to survive as long as 12 months without a blood meal.

How do Bedbugs infest your home?
Cleaner households and better personal hygiene has helped in the decline of bedbug infestations over the years; however, cleanliness is not a factor in why or how bedbugs infest a structure. Bedbugs stow away and are carried into your home in luggage, furniture, clothing, and bedding. They often infest dwellings with a high turnover of occupants, such as hotels, motels, dormitories, prisons, and cruise ships. People who have stayed in infested dwellings can unknowingly bring bedbugs home with them in their luggage, shoes, and clothing. Bringing home used furniture or clothing can also be the origin of an infestation.

Where do they hide?
Bedbugs hide in dark secluded places during the day and they prefer fabric, wood, and paper surfaces. They can be found in the folds, seams, and tufts of mattresses, in the bed framing, and in other upholstered furniture in the bedroom. They feed at night and like to stay close to the source of food during the day. In heavy infested structures, they can be found hiding in cracks and crevices around doors, floors, molding, and windows and in carpet and rugs. They are also known to hide behind electrical switch plates and picture frames in a bedroom.

How do I know I have bedbugs?
One clear sign that you may have bedbugs are the mosquito-like welt you wake up with in the mornings. A bedbug bite is painless, so you will probably not feel the bite when it occurs. If you consistently wake up morning after morning with whelps on your body, then you probably have bedbugs. Other evidence includes bloodstains from crushed bugs or rusty or red spots of excrement on the bedding, on clothes, or on the wall in the bedroom. You may also find egg shells, fecal spots, and shed skin. A sweet, musty odor can also be present in the bedroom in severe cases of infestation.

Bedbugs don’t carry any diseases and they usually go unnoticed by the sleeping victim; however, some people have experienced allergic reactions to the bite requiring medical care. Most people experience minor skin irritations of red, itchy welts that go away in a day or two, only to be repeated the next day by even more welts from the enbites. Often, the anxiety of the constant nightly attack causes people to lose sleep.


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Dennise Brogdon is the managing editor of the Hughston Health Alert, a quarterly, patient-information newsletter, and she is an editorial assistant for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s scientific journal, the Journal of Athletic Training. Dennise is a Web site copywriter and editor. She has experience writing and editing SEO copy and META tags, brochures, advertorials, video scripts, and other technical and promotional material, as well. Dennise earned a BA in English with professional writing as an emphasis at Columbus State University. She is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and the Georgia Writers Association.