SB 

 818 

 C578 

 ENT 



I No. 47, Revised Edition. 



Issued February 2(i. 1907. 



lited States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, 



L. O. HOWARD. EntomoloKist and Chief of Bureau. 



THE BEDHKJ. 



[C'iniex lectularias L.) 



By C. L. M.^KLATT, 

 Kntoiiiulor/ist (did Actiiig (Jliief in Absence of Chief. 



iKevised reprint from Bulletin No. 4, New Series, Division of Kntomology, U. S. Department of 



Agriculture, pp. 32-38.] 



The presence of the bedl)ug (fig. 1) in a house is not necessarily an 

 indication of neglect or carelessness; for, little as the idea may be 

 relished, this insect may often gain access in spite of the best of care 

 and the adoption of all reasonable precautions. It is very apt to get 



Fig. ].— Bedbug (Cimexlectularivs): a. adult female, gorged with bloofi ; /). same from below; 

 c. rudimentary wing pad; rf, mouth parts, a, /;. much enlarged: c. rf, highly magnified 

 (original). 



into the trunks and satchels of travelers, and may thus be introduced 

 into homes. Unfortunately, also, it is quite capable of migrating from 

 one house to another and will often continue to come from an adjoining 

 house, sometimes for a period of several months, gaining entrance dailj'. 

 Such migration is especially apt to take place if the human inhabitants 

 of an infested house leave it. With the failure of their usual source of 

 food, the migratory instinct of the bedbugs is developed; and, escaping 

 through windows, they pass along walls, water pipes, or gutters, and 

 thus gain entrance into adjoining houses. In these or other waj'S it 

 may be anyone's misfortune to have his premises temporarih' invaded. 



