Many of you out there in cyberspace are probably wondering what in the world bed bugs are. You have grown up hearing the expression from your parents and grandparents “night night, don’t let the bed bugs bite” and then you are trying to fall asleep but you are fearing that some little insectoid munchkin with razor sharp teeth will eat you while you sleep.
Pretty scary picture isn’t it? Today we will be covering just what exactly a bed bug is. Are they real? Where do they come from? What do they live on? We will be answering these questions and more as we go through these next five articles that are a series of sorts on bed bugs.
So, just what are bed bugs exactly? We know we have heard of them growing up but have you ever stopped to think about just exactly what they are and where they came from? These bugs are about the same size as a poppy seed when they are first hatched, as adults they can get as big as a quarter of an inch. They have a flat (low to the ground) body and are oval shaped. Sounds pretty creepy right? Read on.
Bed bugs are said to be small (as explained previously) bugs that don’t have wings and they feed only on blood from a warm-blooded animal. Yes, you guessed it, they feed on us humans and anything else that has warm blood and a heartbeat. They are the descendants of what is known as nest parasites. Some of these species of bed bugs live in bird’s nests and where bats live, feeding on the blood of their host.
As mentioned earlier, bed bugs don’t have wings so of course they can’t fly, if they happen to be bothered they will run for cover and usually their cover will be dark cracks, for example cracks in the floor or walls, just to name a few places.
These bugs also shed their skin like snakes do, so sometimes if you look close enough you will find cast off skin of the bugs. If you do find these skins it doesn’t mean that the bed bugs are still around, sometimes they will cast off their skin and then move on because of lack of food or any other reason.
Many of us have grown up hearing all sorts of stories from the older generation about bed bugs and how they spread disease, but in fact, this has not yet been proven. As mentioned, bed bugs feed off of warm-blooded animals and this happens when the host is sleeping. When they are eating, the bed bug will inject a little bit of their spit (saliva) into the host’s skin.
Over time, as the bed bugs continue to do this, it might cause some people to become sensitized to the spit of these bugs, in turn the person might think that they have been bitten by mosquitoes or fleas. If you think that you have been bitten by a bed bug then you should talk to your doctor and let him have a look to be safe. The standard treatments for these types of bits is usually corticosteroids and antihistamines that stop inflammation and any allergic reactions that might occur.
But the best solution is to NEVER GET BITTEN! The only way to prevent bed bug bites is to detect them and destroy them before they get a foothold in your home. Next time, we’ll talk about some of the common solutions out there.
Sleep tight!
HealthGeek
Filed under: Human Parasites | Tagged: bed bug, bed bug bites, blood loss, night terror, nightmare bugs, parasite control
