Species Cimex lectularius - Common Bed Bug

Classification · Other Common Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Internet References

Beetle? Infesting mattress and cloth chair in NYC - Cimex lectularius

Unidentified tick-shaped bug - Cimex lectularius

Teardrop 6-legged beetle-looking insect. - Cimex lectularius

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Family Cimicidae (Bed Bugs)

Genus Cimex

Species lectularius (Common Bed Bug)

Other Common Names

Human Bed Bug

Size

6 mm or less, according to Peterson's A Field Guide to the Insects and Roger Bland's How to Know the Insects

6 to 9.5 mm, according to U. of Florida link in Internet References section below

Identification

body reddish-brown, ovoid, broadly flattened, with greatly reduced wings; forewings (hemelytra) broader than long, somewhat rectangular; sides of pronotum covered with short stiff hairs (fringe hairs on pronotum shorter than width of eye)

Range

cosmopolitan

Habitat

on or near host animal (humans)

Season

year-round

Food

parasitic: nymphs and adults feed on blood of host animal

Life Cycle

multiple generations per year

Remarks

Introduced from Europe by early colonists.

See Also

Tropical Bed Bug (Cimex hemipterus) prothorax is less expanded laterally, and extreme margins are less flattened

In bat bugs (several Cimex species) the pronotal fringe hairs are as long or longer than width of eye

Internet References

live adult image (latvijas.daba.lv)

adult and nymph images plus detailed overview (Shawn Brooks, U. of Florida)

Ohio State University

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 23 April, 2005 - 1:50am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset
Last updated 29 November, 2007 - 6:58am

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