UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



FARMERS' 

 BULLETIN 



Washington, D. C 



754 



October 14, 1916 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomo'ogy, L. O. Howard, Chief. 



THE BEDBUG/ 



By C. L. Marl ATT, 



Entomologist and Assistant Chief of Bureau. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Origin; common names; distribution 2 



Varieties and related insects 3 



General characteristics 3 



The "buggy" odor 4 



Habits and life history 4 



Page. 



Food and longevity 7 



Iniiuence of temperature S 



The bite of the bedbug 9 



The bedbug and human diseases 9 



Natural enemies of the bedbug 10 



Remedies 11 



INTRODUCTION. 



The presence of the bedbug (fig. 1) in a house is not necessarily 

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

 be rehshed, this insect may gain access in spite of the adoption of 

 all reasonable precautions. It is very apt to get into the trunks 

 and satchels of travelers, or into baskets of laundry, and may thus 

 be introduced mto homes. Unfortunately, also, it is quite capable 

 of migrating from one house to another and will often continue to 

 come from an adjoming house, sometimes for a period of several 

 months, gaining entrance daily. Such migration is especially likely 

 to take place if the human inhabitants of an infested house leave 

 it. With the failure of their usual source of food, the migratoiy 

 instinct of the bedbugs is developed, and, escapmg through wm- 

 dows, they pass along walls, water pipes, or gutters, and tlius gain 

 entrance into adjoming houses. In these or other ways anyone's 

 premises may be temporarily invade<l. 



1 Cimex lectularius L.; order Hemiptera, suborder Heteroptera, family Cimicidae. 

 4S406°— Bull. 754—16 



