CHAPTER V 



THE COMMON BEDBUG 

 Cimex lectidarim 



THE bedbug is apparently as old as man himself, and 

 records seem to show that this parasite has been man's 

 bedfellow as long as human beings have slept in beds. 

 Very likely the bedbug was a companion to the cave man 

 long before such comparatively modern sleeping arrange- 

 ments as beds were ever dreamed of. At any rate, the 

 Romans knew it well and gave it the name Cimex, while 

 Pliny wrote regarding its medicinal qualities and especially 

 recommended it for snake bites. 



Seven bedbugs mingled with water were a dose for a man 

 while four were sufficient for children. Jame's Medical 

 Dictionary tells us that the smell of them will relieve 

 " hysterical suffocation." It is said that in certain portions 

 of this country, inhabitants used to give bedbugs for fever 

 and ague. Perhaps they had this as an excuse for allowing 

 the pests in their houses. 



It has gone with man wherever the latter' s colonizing 

 instincts have led him, and it came to America, very likely, 

 with the early colonists. Kalm recorded this pest as 

 abundant among the English colonies in 1748, but says it 

 was unknown among the Indians. 



NAMES BY WHICH IT IS KNOWN 



The general name bedbug is given to this insect all over 

 the United States and the name is a most appropriate and 

 108 



