Top 10 Myths about Bedbugs [Slide Show] – Scientific American

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The insects, making a comeback around the globe, cannot fly and are really not interested in hanging out on your body--but they do occasionally bite during the day

HUNGRY HITCHHIKERS: Bedbugs typically avoid hiding in human clothes because it of the proximity to bodily heat. Instead they will travel on backpacks, luggage, even shoes. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

SCREWED: Contrary to popular belief, bedbugs can climb and cling to slick surfaces such as metal and glass. In homes they can sometimes be found hidden around recessed screws or along metal railings. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

ITCH AND MOAN: Humans have a range of reactions to bedbug bites. About 50 percent of people don't react at all, estimates Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. In some cases, when two people are sleeping in an infested bed, one may wake up covered in itchy welts whereas the other shows no symptoms. Above, a bright, swollen area where a bedbug colony has fed on a susceptible person. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

IN EVERY CORNER: Bedbugs do not live exclusively in mattresses, as their name would imply. Instead, they can be found on any surface in a home, even in electrical sockets or tucked behind plastic molding along a wall (pictured). Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

UNDER THE SHEETS: Bedbugs are primarily active at night, and sense humans by the heat and carbon dioxide we emit. The insects therefore like to hide close to their meals, climbing into the sheets with them. Jung Kim and Rick Santangelo

TELLTALE LUNCH: The most obvious sign of a bedbug infestation is itchy bites on the skin, often at the extremities, but you can also look for bedbug excrement on light-colored sheets. Living on a liquid diet, bedbugs defecate continually, leaving dark smears on mattress seams, headboards and bed frames (pictured). Alvaro Romero

BIG LUNCH: Bedbugs, pictured here swollen with blood after a meal, consume only blood. They prefer human blood, but will also bite dogs, cats, rodents and other warm-blooded animals. Benoit Guenard

LITTLE SUCKERS: Adult bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed, visible to the naked eye. The adults are reddish-brown, whereas juvenile bedbugs are smaller and lighter in color. Eggs, however, are hard to see, being only about the size of a speck of dust. http://www.kingcounty.gov/

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Top 10 Myths about Bedbugs [Slide Show] - Scientific American

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