Bedbug
Bedbug, a wingless, bloodsucking insect. It is reddish brown, has a flat body, and is about one-sixth of an inch (4 mm) long. The bedbug has an offensive odor. It feeds at night and hides by day in mattresses and in cracks in furniture, floors, and woodwork. Its bite on human skin makes a tiny reddish mark. Bedbugs can be eliminated by spraying all cracks with insecticide.
How Did Bed Bugs Get Their Name?Bed bugs were so named because they were often found in people’s beds. That brought about the saying, “Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Today, people keep things cleaner than they used to. Fewer bed bugs live in people’s beds. However, bed bugs are still common in some homes.
Like some kinds of true bugs, bed bugs can be serious pests. But these bugs don’t destroy crops. Instead, they feed only on blood. They bite humans, dogs, cats, birds, and many other warm-blooded animals. Bed bugs use their sharp beaks to pierce the skin of their victims. Then they suck out blood.
The bed bug is one of the few true bugs that has no wings. The reddish-brown bug is about 1/4 of an inch (6 millimeters) long. During the day, this tiny bug can hide almost anywhere—in cracks in furniture, floors, or wall plaster. It can also hide in a rug, under a mattress, or behind peeling wallpaper. At night, a bed bug makes its way to a victim to feed.
The bedbug is Cimex lectularius of the order Hemiptera.