4 FARMERS ' BULLETIN 754. 



ORIGIN; COMMON NAMES; DISTRIBUTION. 



As with nearly all the msects 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 m the dwellings of the 

 ancient peoples of Asia. The Romans were well acquainted with it, 

 givmg it the name Cimex. . It was supposed by Plmy — and this 

 was doubtless the common belief among the Romans — to have 

 medicuial properties, and it was recommended, among other thmgs, 

 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 kno^vn inland. 



Y\r,. 1.— Bedbug (Cimcx lectularius): a, Adult female, engorged with blood; 6, same from below; c, rudiment- 

 ary 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 "chhich, " wliich con turned to be the 

 common appellation for it until within a century or two, and is stiU 

 used in parts of tliis country. The orighi of the name "bedbug" is 

 not known, but it is such a descriptive one that it would seem to 

 have been very naturally suggested. iUmost everywhere there are 

 local names for these parasites, as, for illustration, around Boston 

 they are called ''chintzes" and "clnnches," 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 Kahn, writing hi 1748-49, stated that it 

 was plentiful in the English colonies and in Canada, though unknown 

 among the Indians. 



