![]() ![]() If it has fed it will be round in circumference and reddish. If it has not fed recently it will be flattened and brown. Everything starts to look like a bed bug if you start to worry about them. An adult bed bug is about the size and shape of an apple seed. The first thing is you have to be able to recognize and distinguish a bed bug from any other insect. What can one do to avoid getting bed bugs? I've tried to smell the coriander scent in bed bug alarm pheromones and have not been able to make the connection, however. In fact, older literature refers to the bed bug as the coriander bug. Some people say at low concentrations it's a pleasant smell-like coriander. At higher concentrations the odor is unpleasant. When a group of bed bugs gets disturbed, you may get a whiff of that odor, which is similar to the odor stink bugs give off. Like many species of bugs, bed bugs release odors called alarm pheromones. That takes a lot of bugs though-maybe 100,000 feeding once a week or more.Īnother clue to infestation is odor. In very severe infestations people can become anemic. With a huge infestation, bed bugs start to move away from the bed, so you're more likely to see one in an exposed place during the day. Because bed bugs are nocturnally active, it's hard to see other signs of their presence-unless you're accustomed to waking up at 3 A.M. Those individuals who are not sensitive to bed bug bites may not know they have an infestation. ![]() Among those people who do react to the bites, most of them don't respond to early bites, but develop a sensitivity to subsequent ones. Thirty percent of people or more don't react to bed bug bites at all, and the elderly are less reactive than the rest of the population. The truth is that both are getting bitten, but only one has a reaction to the bites. I have heard of couples reporting that only one partner is getting bitten. Bed bugs are not specific to humans, but they are adapted to parasitizing us.Ĭould you have a bed bug infestation in your home and not know it? Fur is probably a barrier to them, but they could feed at any place on the body without fur. Some labs that study bed bugs rear them on guinea pigs and mice. Bed bugs are also pests in poultry operations, and they're known to parasitize bats. I called Haynes to ask him how to do that and what to do if one suspects an infestation (eek!), among a bunch of other practical-minded questions. In the meantime the best bet is to avoid bringing bed bugs home in the first place. Some of those potential solutions are a long way off, however. The good news is scientists are intensively studying these insects, and their insights suggest novel ways of detecting the bugs and eradicating infestations. In the February issue of Scientific American entomologist Kenneth Haynes of the University of Kentucky explains how, after a lengthy absence, bed bugs are staging a comeback. Or maybe it was a hotel room, office or college dorm. It might have happened in a scrupulously clean bedroom. Chances are, you or someone you know has had a run-in with bed bugs. ![]()
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