Class: Insects
Size: 3.8 to 5.5mm, fully absorbed up to 9mm
Weight: Variable
Age: 6 to 12 months
Appearance: Hairy, red-brown
Sexual dimorphism: Yes
Food: Blood
Distribution: Worldwide above 65 degrees latitude
Sleep-wake rhythm: Nocturnal
Habitat: Dry, crevice-like hiding places in human settlements
Natural enemies: None
Sexual maturity: 8 weeks
Mating season: all year round
Social behaviour: Occurs in groups
Threatened with extinction: No

• Bed bugs, also called house bugs, are pests. They originally came from the Middle East and parts of Asia. They found their way to humans through the nesting places of cave animals in the caves where bats and humans lived.
• Bed bugs cannot fly, hide in furniture crevices, beds (mattresses, bed bases, headboards, etc.), and even in parquet floors if there is a heavy infestation. They prefer dark places and tend to hide when you switch on the light.
• Bed bugs have to shed their skin five times during their life. There are usually several layers of flaking skin behind the headboard of the bed frame, along the seam of the skirting board or mattress.
• Bed bugs are very small, brown oval insects. Despite their small size, adults can be seen with the eye. Before they feed, they are very flat. After sucking blood, they can increase in size by a few millimetres.
• Bed bug bites are small, flat or stronger bumps, wheals or elevations on the skin. The bite usually occurs overnight. Redness, swelling and severe itching are common. The bites occur very close together. Some people have almost no, others have a strong allergic reaction.
• Although bed bugs do not transmit any diseases themselves, it is not uncommon for affected people to scratch the itchy bite site and thus trigger an infection.