Bed bug

Bedbug
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Branch	Protostomia
Phylum Information
Superphylum	Panarthropoda
Phylum	Arthropoda
Sub-phylum	Mandibulata
Infraphylum	Atelocerata
Class Information
Superclass	Panhexapoda
Class	Insecta
Sub-class	Dicondylia
Infra-class	Pterygota
Order Information
Superorder	Condylognatha
Order	Hemiptera
Sub-order	Heteroptera
Infraorder	Cimicomorpha
Family Information
Superfamily	Cimicoidea
Family	Cimicidae
Genus Information
Genus	Cimex
Species Information
Species	C. lectularius
Population statistics

Bedbug refers to approximately 75 species of small parasitical insect of the family Cimicidae, and most especially to the common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) of the temperate areas of the northern hemisphere. Bedbugs are characterized by the nocturnal feeding of blood from man or other warm-blooded animals.

Description

Bedbugs are approximately 4-5 centimeters long. They are broad and flat in shape, brown in color, and glisten from a distinctive, smelly oil secreted from scent glands. The wings are scale-like and vestigial. Females lay about 200 or more eggs during reproductive periods, and can lay around a thousand during several such periods within a year.

Bedbugs feed only at night; in the wild they feed on the blood of birds and small mammals, and within human-inhabited areas they feed upon domesticated animals as well as man. They retreat to their hiding places during the daytime, using up to several days in which to digest their food. When hiding they are generally found in curtains, furniture cushions, within dressers, or inside bedding and mattresses, hence the name.

Control

Bedbugs can be killed easily with insecticides like deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethrin.

Environmentalism

Environmentalists like to spread despair about bedbugs, hinting that evolution always makes them impervious to each new insecticide which people use to put down outbreaks. A typical examples is "They Crawl, They Bite, They Baffle Scientists" in the August 30, 2010 New York Times. The article lists half a dozen chemicals which don't kill bedbugs, while (carefully?) omitting any mention of effective chemicals.

External links

• Explanation of various Bed Bug Insecticides