Those of us who grew up in the past 50 years have heard this little night time blessing: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite. Many who have heard that have never seen or experienced the little brown subject of the cute statement in real life. The real critters are far from cute and cause discomfort and distress to those affected. The re-emergence of the little brown pests may soon make this a reality to people in the Show-Me State.
Adults are small, brownish insects, just under a 1/4” long and relatively flat. They are nearly as wide as they are long, and they are oval in shape. Immature bed bugs (nymphs) resemble the adults but are much smaller and lighter in color. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent and are no bigger than a pinhead (1 mm). After feeding on a blood meal, the immature bed bugs may appear bright red in color. Bed bugs lack wings and therefore they do not fly, but they are capable of moving swiftly on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, for example climbing up bed frames. The eggs are very small (approximately 1mm), whitish, and very difficult to see on most surfaces without magnification (individual eggs are about the size of a dust speck).
Bed bugs were a common problem in the United States up through the World War II era. Around this time, they were virtually eradicated from the US with the wide scale usage of pesticides, such as DDT and Malathion. During the late 1990’s bed bugs began to re-emerge as a pest in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK, along with a number of other countries. Their secretive behavior, coupled with a lack of public awareness, has enabled this insect to move very efficiently from one dwelling to anothe, which has facilitated their rapid dispersal throughout the country.
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