Latin name: Cimex Lectularius Linnaeus

Adult bed bugs measure 1⁄5-1⁄4 inch long and 1⁄8 inch. They are reddish – brown to mahogany colored, or even reddish if their abdomen is full of blood. Although their bodies are covered with tiny golden – colored hair, but these hair is too small and light color which make them invisible to the naked eyes. Therefore, their body appearance is shiny.

Their antennae have four segments. Under the wing pads on the back of thorax are undeveloped wings, so they cannot fly. The tip of the abdomen of male is pointed than female whose abdomen is rounded at the rear.

Bed bug eggs are elongate, opaque white and small and measure about 0.04 inch in length. When observed by microscope or strong hand lens, they have small dots near the top, which are pigment in the eyes of the developing embryo within. Eggs are attached to the substrate with a sticky substance, secreted by the female during egg – laying. They are dried to make the eggs hard to detach.
Similar to other bugs, bed bugs have an incomplete life cycle with five – stage nymphs. Hatching from small eggs, the first nymph stage is only 0.4 inch in length with light brown and straw in color.

In order to grow and molt in the next time, nymphs have to feed on blood from the host, commonly human. After that, nymphs’ bodies change into reddish – brown which is similar to the first and the fourth instars of bed bugs. It is very important to know that is the first instar cannot survive after a few days without blood. Read more Biological feature of bed bugs.

While there are many kinds of bed bug found in the field have bodies that are oval – shaped and flattened, so they can fit into tight cracks and crevice or other harborage spaces. The bodies of nymphs or adults that have recently obtained a full bloodmeal will appear swollen and bulb – shaped because of their full abdomens. Bed bugs that have recently fed on blood will also appear more reddish in color because undigested blood that shows through the stretched cuticle of the abdomen. The bloodmeal within engorged adult bed bugs will weigh anywhere from 130 % to 200% compared to other adult bugs’ unfed weight and it is the same as nymphs. When the adult feed on blood, they can become engorged in less than 20 minutes.

When their harborage areas are inspected, dark reddish – brown fecal stains which contain partially digested blood will be visible in the substrate. Similar to the fecal stains, along with dots or smears of host blood that was released and not imbibed by the bugs while they were feeding on the host, are often visible on the bedding, upholstery or clothing that was used by the host (usually while sleeping) when the bugs were feeding.

It is interesting to note that is the heavy infestation in particular often emit a noticeable odor within the harborage areas. This odor derives primarily from secretions of glands onto the underside of each bug’s thorax, and is often described by PMPs as “musty”, “sweet” or “sickly sweet”. Some individuals may notice strawberry or similar fruity notes to the odor.