9 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 754. 
_ ORIGIN; COMMON NAMES; DISTRIBUTION. 
As with nearly all the insects associated with man, the bedbug has 
had the habits now characteristic of it as far back as the records run. 
It was undoubtedly of common occurrence in the dwellings of the 
ancient peoples of Asia. The Romans were well acquainted with it, 
giving it.the name Cimex. It was supposed by Pliny—and this 
was doubtless the common belief among the Romans—to have 
medicinal Sede and it was recommended, among other things, 
as a specific for the bites of serpents. It is said to have been first 
introduced into England in 1503, but the references to it are of such 
a nature as to make it very probable that it had been there long 
before. Two hundred and fifty years later it was reported to be 
very abundant in the seaport towns, but was scarcely known inland. 
Fia. 1.—Bedbug ( Cimezx lectularius): a, Adult female, engorged with blood; b, same from below; c, rudimen- 
tary wing pad; d, mouth parts. a,b, Much enlarged; c, d, highly magnified. (Author’s illustration.) 
One of the old English names was ‘‘wall-louse.”’ It was after- 
ward very well known as the ‘‘chinch,’’ which continued to be the 
common appellation for it until within a century or two, and is still 
used in parts of this country. The origin of the name ‘‘bedbug”’ is 
not known, but it is such a descriptive one that it would seem to 
have been very naturally suggested. Almost everywhere there are 
local names for these parasites, as, for illustration, around Boston 
they are called ‘‘chintzes’”? and ‘‘chinches,’”’ and from Baltimore 
comes the name ‘‘mahogany flat,’? while in New York they are 
styled ‘‘red coats,’’ and in the west ‘‘crimson ramblers.”’ 
The bedbug has accompanied man wherever he has gone. Ships 
are very apt to be infested with it and have been the chief means of 
its wide distribution. It probably came to this country with the 
earliest colonists; at least Kalm, writing in 1748-49, stated that it 
was plentiful in the English colonies and in Canada, though unknown 
among the Indians. 
