The latest invaders in New York are living confirmation that New York does go to sleep sometimes, because that is when these little nightmares come out to get you. It used to be rats that beleaguered New York, now it creatures small enough to live on rats in their dozens. I am talking about Cimex lectularius, the bed bug that specializes in preying on humans.

Nobody really knows how many species of bed bugs there are, some say seventy odd others say a hundred and odd. Most of them prefer animals, particularly birds and bats, but a lot of them will drink human blood if there is nothing else around. Cimex lectularius is the only one which prefers human blood and they have hit New York big time. They have literally got New Yorkers trembling in their beds.

The sad reality is that bed bugs were thought to have been wiped out in the United States in the 1950’s. Long-haul travellers and immigrants have been blamed for the sporadic outbursts of bedbugs in the past, but incidents of bedbugs has reached epidemic proportions. In 2004, there were only 82 attested infestations in New York, in 2009, just five years later, there were 10,985!

They are quite swift creatures, preferring to live close to the host, they can make a withdrawal from your blood bank often within ten minutes, faster than you can make a withdrawal from an inner city ATM. Most bed bugs have drunk their fill within five minutes of finding you and they can find you very soon. Bed bugs use body heat and CO2 emissions to locate their victims and then use pheromones to inform their friends and family where you are too.

This is why a host is usually bitten a dozen times or more, not just once like when there is a single mosquito in your bedroom or three times, which is the mark of a flea. Like flea bites, bed bug bites are frequently in a row of three though.

Fortunately for us, bedbugs carry no known diseases, although numerous bites can lead to anaemia and an impaired immune system, which could make you open to other diseases. Victims sometimes develop obsessional behavioural patterns and insomnia, which also has its consequences.

Bedbugs are hatched from eggs, which are produced one, two or three a day. They take about ten days to hatch out into translucent nymphs about a millimetre or so long. These must also feed on blood. As they grow, they shed their skins. After six moultings they are fully-grown bed bugs and can breed.

Bedbugs feed approximately every five days, during which time they rest in the dark crevice that they call home and sleep it off. Their lifespan is between five months and a year, but they can become dormant for five months, if there is no food about. A female will lay about 300 eggs in her life.

It used to be said that bedbugs lived in squalor, but this is not the case. However, they do like to be where humans assemble and they like dark cracks to live in: loose headboards, bed frames, skirting boards and architraves are definite favourites.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently concerned with getting rid of bedbugs? If you are interested in this, please go over to our website now at Picture Of Bed Bugs for more details.