4 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 154. 
of most other true bugs are lacking. The absence of wings is a most 
fortunate circumstance, since otherwise there would be no safety 
from it even for the most careful of housekeepers. Some slight vari- 
ation in length of wing pads has been observed, but none with 
wings showing any considerable development has ever been found. 
THE “BUGGY” ODOR. 
The most characteristic feature of the bedbug is the very distinct 
and disagreeable odor which it exhales, an odor well known to all 
who have been familiar with it as the ‘‘buggy”’ odor. This odor is 
by no means limited to the bedbug, but is characteristic of most 
plant bugs also. The common chinch bug affecting small grains 
and the squash bugs all possess this odor, and it is quite as pungent 
with these plant-feeding forms as with the human parasite. The 
possession of this odor, disagreeable as it is, is very fortunate after 
all, as it is of considerable assistance in 
detecting the presence of these vermin, 
The odor comes from glands, situated 
in various parts of the body, which se- 
crete a clear, oily, volatile liquid. With 
the plant-feeding forms this odor is cer- 
tainly a means of protection against in- 
sectivorous birds, rendering these in- 
sects obnoxious or distasteful to their 
feathered enemies. With the bedbug, 
on the other hand, it is probably an 
Fig. 2.—Bedbug: Adult before engorge- llustration of a very common phenom- 
ae Rae ie: (Author’sillus- enon among animals, i. e., the persist- 
ence of a characteristic which is no, 
longer of any especial value to the possessor. The natural ene- 
mies of true bugs, against which this odor serves as a means of pro- 
tection, in the conditions under which the bedbug lives, are kept 
away from it; and the roach, which sometimes feeds on bedbugs, is 
evidently not deterred by the odor, while the common house ant 
and the house centipede, which may also attack the bedbug, seem 
not to find this odor disagreeable. 
HABITS AND LIFE HISTORY. 
The bedbug is normally nocturnal in habits and displays a certain 
degree of wariness, caution, and intelligence in its efforts at conceal- 
ment during the day. Under the stress of hunger, however, it will 
emerge from its place of concealment in a well-lighted room at night, 
so that under such circumstances keeping the gas or electric light 
burning is not a complete protection. It has been known under 
similar conditions to attack human beings voraciously in broad 
