Recognizing a Bed Bug
What is a bedbug?
​
The bedbug (or Cimex lectularius) is one of the oldest human parasites. They are blood-sucking arthropods, i.e. insects that feed on blood.
His characteristics :
-
The size of an apple seed,
-
Brown, oval and flattened,
-
Approximately 5 to 7 mm long for a fasting adult
After feeding, it enlarges slightly and takes on a dark blood-red color.
Bed bugs do not fly, do not have wings and do not jump.
A bedbug infestation is not a hygiene issue!
To date, outside the laboratory, the bedbug is not a vector of any disease.
Sources of contamination
​
On a global scale, bedbugs have used transportation: planes, boats, cargo ships, trains, to contaminate all continents in record time. There is no country spared from this scourge. Travel is the first source of contamination, hidden in luggage, furniture... bedbugs have invaded our environment.
All levels of contamination have been described: isolated case, grouped case, total contamination of a building, or epidemic outbreak in a city (e.g. New York in 2009-2010). The cases are mainly urban.
On a local scale, bedbugs are now present in all places open to the public, from transport to performance halls, including hospitals, and all types of accommodation (hotels, lodges, homes). reception centers, retirement homes, university campuses, etc.).
It is therefore easy to transport it from one place to another, via a bag, clothing, furniture... and to contaminate new healthy places until then.
No one is really responsible for this phenomenon...
Bedbug life cycle
​
The bed bug has 7 life stages:
-
eggs,
-
young people (5 stages: J1, J2, J3, J4, J5),
-
the adults.
All stages, except eggs, are hematophagous, meaning they need blood to live.
The bedbug in a few figures
​
-
Life expectancy of an adult: 6 – 24 months
-
Meal time: 10 – 20 min
-
Time between 2 meals, very variable (up to 2 years): 3 – 15 days
-
Total number of eggs laid by an adult female: 200 – 500eggs
-
Laying rate of an adult female: 5 – 15 eggs/day
-
Life Cycle Time (egg to egg): 40 – 70 days
-
Laying time after fertilization: 3 – 10 days
-
Egg hatching time: 7 – 15 days
-
Time between 2 stages (obligatory blood meal): 3 – 15 days