Have you ever heard the saying, ‘don’t let the bed bugs bite’?  Well it’s true, there are bed bugs and there out to get you. They are very small in size and can slip through the tiniest cracks.  Bed bugs are found in South Africa and live in small cracks in homes and houses. 

To begin with, bed bugs are around 3-5 mm in length. Most bed bugs are reddish with a little brown. They are very small and hard to see.  The bed bug has sensors on its antenna that sense the carbon dioxide we humans give off so they know exactly where you are.  Bed bugs don’t have wings.

Second off, most bed bugs are found in South Africa, but some countries in the U.S have them.  The population is increasing at 500% and keeps growing over the past few years.  Females can lay about 300 to 1000 eggs in their life time.  Some bed bugs are known to cause very deadly diseases. 

Lastly, most bed bugs take blood from humans.  The bed bug got its name from where it hunts its prey.  Bed bugs strike at night when humans are in a deep sleep.  Using sensors, they locate you and find the best spot to take blood from.  Then they use the sucking mouthparts to suck the blood right from your veins.  House centipedes, masked assassin bugs, and fire ants are the bed bugs main predators. 

All in all, bed bugs are important because they are important to study.  They are very small and can fit through very narrow cracks.  Most bed bugs can transmit diseases that can be dangerous.  Bed bugs go through incomplete metamorphosis.  They feed off the blood from our ancestors when they lived in caves and followed them when they moved into huts.

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Author: Damian W.
Published: 2/17/12

 

Sources: http://www.whatdobedbugslooklike.nethttp://bed-bugs.wikdot.comhttp://www.sternenviromental.com
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