The bed bug, also the couch bug, is a type of bug, a blood-sucking insect. These are fairly common household pests that can deprive people of sleep and rest for a long time, and in some cases, health.
From a medical point of view, bedbugs cause the greatest harm to people with their bites, which cause irritation, painful itching, blistering and scratching, depriving a person of normal rest and sleep.
But the main thing is that bites can lead to an allergic reaction or become a traumatic factor.
Where do bedbugs come from?
Most often they penetrate from neighboring apartments and basements. The small size allows bedbugs to crawl through the narrowest cracks in walls and ceilings. In addition, residents of the apartment can “bring” a bed bug from another house.
Experts have shared seven warning signs that can identify intruders.
Unusual smell
—When bed bugs feel threatened, they emit so-called alarm pheromones, which have a faint smell of raspberries, cilantro or almonds, and in severe cases of bed bugs, this smell mixes with the smell of dead insects and discarded cell membranes, which creates a rusty smell, British experts noted.
Bites
If you wake up with red, itchy bites, this could be a sign of bed bugs as they usually feed at night. Usually bites appear on the arms, hands and legs.
Bloodstains
Once the pest has finished feeding, it is full of blood, which can flow if you crush it in time to sleep. So if you notice small blood stains on sheets or clothes, it is likely that these stains come from bed bugs.
Dark, brown marks
In addition to annoying, itchy bites, bed bugs leave behind tiny droppings.
Eggs
Bed bug eggs are only about one millimeter long, but can be detected by looking at anything that looks like little grains of rice in your bed. They can adhere to various types of surfaces, usually at the seams and joints of a mattress or behind the head of a bed.
Shells
Bed bugs shed several times during their life cycle, leaving behind shells of varying sizes. You can identify them by their yellow, translucent appearance in the seams, creases and crevices of mattresses, or even other places such as cracks in walls and furniture.
Live bed bugs
Adult bed bugs are about four to five millimeters long, while bed bug larvae start at just one millimeter.
Unwashed laundry causes bed bugs
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Change in bedroom odor may indicate bed bugs
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Important! Information provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and under no circumstances self-medicate. At the first sign of illness, consult a doctor.