Report on the bed-bug.

  • Great Britain. Ministry of Health.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the bed-bug. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    2. BED-BUGS IN RELATION TO PusLic HEALTH. Bed-bugs have not been definitely convicted of carrying disease. It is possible that in certain circumstances they may carry infection from one person to another, but there is no evidence that they are active agents in the dissemination of any particular pathogenic organism in the way that fleas carry plague, lice typhus fever, or mosquitoes malaria. It may be that Bed- -bugs are responsible for actual ill-health from lack of sleep due to skin irritation. It has been suggested that in groups of school-children it is possible to pick out those that come from bug-infested houses by their sallow complexions and listless appearance. Obviously it is difficult here to correlate cause and effect. The presence of Bed-bugs may well be a result of conditions in the house which make for ill-health and not primarily a cause of ill-health. 3. Tar Lire History AND HABITS OF THE BED-BUG. The adult Bed-bug (Cimex lectularius Linn.) is a flat, oval, wingless creature with three pairs of legs. Beneath the head is the beak or rostrum containing the organs for piercing and sucking. Under natural conditions the Bed-bug feeds only upon blood. It is generally nocturnal in habit, feeding mostly at night and hiding in the daytime, but occasionally Bed-bugs may be seen at any time of the day or night in warm rooms in infested dwellings. The colour of the two sexes is the same—dark chestnut or mahogany brown. After feeding the abdomen becomes extended and domed; darker in colour, and the segments are more clearly distinguish- able. The eyes are black. The respiratory system consists of a number of air tubes leading directly to different parts of the body and opening by a series of apertures, or spiracles, on both sides. The life of the adult Bed-bug varies from a few weeks up to four years or more, according to food supply available, temperature, humidity and other considerations. At the normal temperature in this country the Bed-bug seldom feeds more than once a week, and is capable of existing for six months or more without food. After such fasts it is almost as thin as a piece of paper and much more transparent than when regularly fed. A well-fed Bed-bug is more fertile than one which has fasted for some time, and a female fertilised by a well-fed male is said to be more prolific. The Bed-bug seems to be more vuinerable when it is fed than when it is starved, but further experimental work is necessary with regard to this point and to the relative resistance at the different stages of growth under varying conditions. Bed-bugs are more active in hot weather but temperatures over 113° F. are said to be lethal. There is evidence that Bed-bugs are attracted to warm surfaces and also by smell or a combination of heat and smell, but so far as we know such attraction extends only up to short distances of less than two inches.