A once common pest of slum dwellings,
now much reduced by improved standards of
hygiene. They still occur with some regularity,
particularly in multi-occupancy buildings
with rapid resident turnover, for example,
hostels, holiday camps and blocks of flats.
The adult bug resembles a small brown disc,
about 3.5mm long - the size of a match head.
It is wingless but the legs are well developed
and it can crawl up most vertical surfaces,
e.g. bed legs. The elongated eggs are cemented
in cracks or crevices close to the hosts
(which for bed-bugs are humans). There is
no larval stage, the young hatch as mini-bugs
or nymphs which become adult in five stages
of growth. Each nymphal stage needs one
full meal of blood before it proceeds to
the next stage. Fully-grown bed-bugs can
endure starvation for several months. Infested
rooms may have bugs under wallpaper or in
crevices in the furniture and joinery. They
generally emerge to feed at night and their
bite can cause severe local irritation.
They also produce a characteristic unpleasant
smell.
