There are several dozen varieties of bed bugs. They are divided into 50 families. However, all individuals are conventionally subdivided into groups based on their habitat and feeding habits:

    • herbivores;
    • predators (feed on insects, small creatures);
    • scavengers - destroying dead pests;
    • parasitic individuals - attack warm-blooded creatures;
    • Mixed feeding individuals - can combine different habits, for example, there are bed bugs that destroy plants and insects.

The varieties of the first group are distinguished by their average size - 10-15 mm.


READ MORE

However, smaller individuals can also be found. Plant-eating pests live in green spaces, they also live on the ground and overwinter there (under the surface layer of soil, a layer of old leaves). Their food source is plant sap. Bed bugs of this species destroy shrubs and trees. But large plantings die more slowly. Negative changes are more noticeable on vegetable crops:

  • yellow and brown spots appear;
  • the leaves are deformed;
  • The green part of the plant withers;
  • The flowers do not form or the ovaries fall off.

The appearance of street plant-eating bed bugs is different, such individuals are brighter.

Their carapace can be colored green, red, blue, yellow. Distinctive features are the presence of a shield in most representatives. The body shape is rounded or oval. Such insects lay offspring (eggs) on the back of leaves. As a result, pests emerging from the protective shells immediately begin to feed.

Predators include both larger and smaller individuals. These include species: terrestrial and aquatic. They are believed to be mostly beneficial insects. They destroy pests (they feed on caterpillars, flies, beetles, etc.). Bed bugs use a stiff, stabbing-sucking proboscis to get a portion of their food.

INSECTS OF THESE SPECIES ARE FOUND IN THE SAME PLACES WHERE PESTS LIVE - MAINLY ON PLANTS.

Waterfowl hunt and spend most of their time in the water. They can fly and jump. The coloration is mostly brown. If a person swims up to an insect without noticing it, they can be bitten. The body length of such individuals reaches 15 cm, some predators are even larger. However, these pests are not parasites.

THEY ARE NOT DANGEROUS TO PEOPLE IF THEY ARE KEPT AT A SAFE DISTANCE.

The most common type of parasitic bed bugs is house bugs. These pests are called bed bugs and leave bites on the human body at night, but they are usually found in the morning because the itching does not appear immediately. In addition, the victim is asleep and therefore cannot react to the attack. So imperceptibly bed bugs disperse in the room, the number of individuals increases many times. As a result, signs of their presence become noticeable:

  • сThe peculiar smell of the house (mixed aroma of spoiled raspberries, brandy, almonds);
  • bites in the morning, they form a semblance of a band (straight or curved);
  • in places near the bed or sofa you can see clusters of parasites, they gather to form a kind of nest, here you can see their excrement (black dots), larvae, empty shells, egg shells.

Bed bugs look remarkable: The body size is up to 8 mm, while males are smaller. The color of the outer covers is brown, and the back is segmented. In a hungry state, the body of such individuals is flatter. With satiation, the color of the chitinous membrane changes to brownish-red, and the parasite increases in size by 1.5-2 times.

THE PECULIARITY OF THESE PESTS IS THAT THEY LIVE FOR MANY MONTHS WITHOUT FOOD.

This is made possible by the ability to enter the diapause phase. The duration of the life cycle under normal conditions is 12 months. This period may increase with decreasing air temperature and also decrease to 10 months. The development cycle of young individuals is also reduced.

There are several varieties of house parasites. All of them have similar external features. The difference between them becomes noticeable only when examined under a microscope. However, representatives of other varieties of house parasites live in other places, some near bats, in attics.

OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SUBORDER OF BED BUGS, SUCH AS THE TRIATOMS, ALSO LIVE CLOSE TO HUMANS.

Many of the parasitic species attack small rodents and larger animals. And at each stage there is a change of host. Larvae are unable to bite humans or large animals. As they grow up, they also change their eating habits. In adults, the mouth apparatus is already formed and strengthened, which allows the pests to bite the victim of very large size. Representatives of the funny-eating insect group usually prefer one type of food.

BUT IF FOR VARIOUS REASONS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO GET TO THE USUAL SOURCE OF FOOD, SUCH INSECTS CHOOSE AN ALTERNATIVE OPTION.



en_USEnglish
en_USEnglish ru_RURussian de_DEGerman fr_FRFrench it_ITItalian es_ESSpanish pl_PLPolish