What are bedbugs? And do they really bite? What does it feel like? Seriously!?

Question

Actually PeachyPie, I moved in a week ago and have changed my bedding twice so far (usually is once a week). Please remember that assumption is the mother of all..................

Okay. So some people think that it may not be bedbugs... I hope not actually, these guys sound nasty! Anyway, so i wake up every night in the middle of the night with a burning sensation in whichever spot the unknown creature has decided to attack me. I've tried insect repellents before bed and nothign seems to keep them away. that how I figured out that they weren't mosquitoes. Any ideas what else they could be??

Answer 1

Bedbugs are flat flea like creatures, they live in the crevices of your bedsted, behind wallpaper, in light fittings, and along the edges of carpets.
They can be introduced to the home on luggage brought into the house from overseas or from staying elsewhere.
They can live without a feed for up to one year. They can be the size of ladybirds (ladybugs if you are american).
You will need a professional exterminator to remove them.
They are very resiliant to most household pesticides so you need the strong stuff that the experts use.
They do bite.. usually in rows of 3 or 4 bites.. flat, red, rounded marks on the arms.
If you have a wooden bedframe, look around it for their droppings and on the mattress seams. Their droppings look like little black bits of mascara, but are infact little bits of bedbug excrement.

They DO NOT mean you are dirty at all. They will come into some of the cleanest places on earth. Just like fleas who prefer CLEAN hair.

Google BEDBUGS . You will find some images and good information on them

Answer 2

A TRUE STORY 1924-27

Flat, brown and the size of a hat pin head, they fit perfectly under the wallpaper in houses with more than one layer.
Yes they bite and leave a white flat bump about their own size surrounded by a halo of reddish skin.
They feel like a mosquito bite but not so acid under the skin.
Seriously?
I wore more clothes at night than I did in the day during the summertime.
I lived in and east end slum where the tenants were the cleanest people in London.
A para from a book of three that I wrote for my daughter.

Of the two bedrooms in the house the back room was the quietest in which to sleep, if one became used to trains running twenty feet from the bedroom window.
Passing at ten-minute intervals throughout the night and half that frequency during the day, they made the room very noisy.
The shunting of huge rolls of paper into the wallpaper factory on the other side of the tracks was equally ear shattering.
Since the train's noise was expected and therefore tolerable, the main difference between the day and night noise was the sound of moving metal. Night traffic involved numerous goods trains whose trucks generated various noises.
Squeaking wheels or loose brake blocks, where the latter would partially lock the wheel rims making the brake assembly a source of metallic chattering.
These noises augmented by the incessant buffering of the wagons, made nighttime a noisy period that was made worse by the buffers on each truck.
Hitting each other in a rapid succession before coming to rest, a long train could go on sounding its buffers for almost a minute.
A common occurrence when stopping at a signal box located outside of Old Ford station one hundred yards away.
This nightly melody of metallic sounds had different tonics, and perhaps, inspirational benefits for a composer, but for a worker trying to refresh his tired body it was just a bad noise.
Nobody in the house could agree which was the best bedroom for sleeping, as both had more than two occupants and noisy enamel bed chambers.
A common overriding feature for both rooms was its complement of bugs. In whatever room one slept and no matter how clean was the house the bugs would visit.
'They can move the length of Wendon Street,' grandfather would say if bitten soon after fumigation.
Since all the houses were built under one long roof covering the length of the street, the bugs never needed complex escape routes.
When they bit they would leave small white bumps surrounded by a red ring, allowing the victim to imagine the biological battle ground with interest.
Horse hair with lathe and plaster walls, covered by a common roof over forty-five houses was a bug's idea of the 'Grand Tour.' As tour they did up and down the street sampling the changing menu and different vintages.
Rooms would be vacated while poisonous gases were released from slow burning bug killing candles within the sealed room. When the clothes had been fumigated and washed the debugging would bring comfort for a few weeks.
Co-ordination between tenants would have been an obvious solution, but neighbours would not admit to having bugs thereby making a common street action out of the question.
Mothers would lay their children to rest at night and while tucking them in would say,
'Night-night, night-night, don't let the bed bugs bite.'
Bite they would if finding exposed skin, and when pyjamas, socks and mittens failed to obstruct it was time to fumigate again.
In summer children wore more clothes at night than they did throughout the day.

Answer 3

I think some people are confusing bed bugs with dust mites. Dust mites are tiny and aggravate asthma. Bed bugs are big enough to be seen, and feed on blood like mosquitos.
They do have bed bugs in the USA. In the old days people used to pull the bed away from the wall, get 4 jam jar lids and stand the legs of the bed in the lids, then pour in surgical spirits. Bed bugs live in cracks in the floorboards, under the wallpaper and so on and the surgical spirits stops them crawling up the legs of the bed.

For dust mites change and wash the bedding ,and hoover and turn the mattress once a week.. You can also wrap the pillows in bin liners and put them in the freezer for 24 hours; and steam clean the mattress.
For bed bugs you'd need to clean the whole room several times!

Answer 4

bed bugs can bite all over, generally if they get under your clothes they'll bite alot in a clump (my sister had a big problem with them. Generally they're not ichy unless you poke at them. If they are bed bugs you should be able to find evidence of them by stripping your bed, and going through the sheets, pillow cases and mattress. If you find nothing consult a doctor, if you do find something you have to call an extermanator.

Answer 5

Odessa, has provided you with the best answer as to what they are.

However, no one has provided you with a proper answer to get rid of them. It is all very well cleaning sheets and turning mattresses over now but that is far to late to stop them. They multiply very quickly and if you ar not carfeul will find their way to other parts of the house.

If you live in the UK contact the pest control at your local council. They will then come and fumigate the contaminated room. (please note that all your possessions / clothes etc must be removed from the room). Your council will do this for no charge (they will charge if they have to make a second visit though)

Answer 6

They are some kind of mite that really do bite. I moved into a house as a student and all the beds had bed bugs. We got bitten where we had bare skin, like on our ankles and at the wastebands of out pyjamas. The chemist told us it was bed-bugs when we showed him our hives. We had to put special powder on the matresses, leave them for 24 hours and hoover it up. Did the trick.

Answer 7

Bed bugs and their relatives represent a small group of ectoparasites which require a blood meal in order to complete their life cycles. They are frequently encountered in homes and if left uncontrolled, may quickly become established and infest adjoining rooms and dwellings.
Description and Biology:

Adult bed bugs measure approximately 1/5 inch in length by 1/8 inch in width. They are reddish-brown in color and typically oval and flattened in shape. After feeding, the abdomen becomes engorged giving the bed bug a somewhat elongated appearance. Immatures are yellowish-white in color. The head bears piercing-sucking mouthparts which enable bed bugs to pierce the skin and retrieve blood from their hosts. The antennae have four segments and two compound eyes are visible. The wings are reduced to short pads and incapable of generating flight. Eggs are white and approximately 1/32 inch long.

Life Cycle and Habits

Bed bugs are nocturnal in their feeding habits, hiding in crevices and cracks during the day. A female can lay a total of 200 to 500 eggs. The eggs are laid in batches of 10 to 50 in areas where the insects hide. The young are hatched in four to 28 (usually about 10) days, depending upon temperature. Newly hatched bed bugs feed and molt five times before reaching maturity. All of the instars are tolerant to starvation and can endure several months or more without a blood meal. In one year, there may be three or more generations. Usually, one blood meal is taken between egg deposition and each instar molt.

Host(s):

Hosts include man, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, bats, poultry, birds and other warm-blooded animals. The Cimicids in North Dakota that affect man include the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, and the eastern bat bug, C. adjunctus.

Damage/Symptoms:

When bed bugs bite, they become completely engorged with blood in from three to fifteen minutes, depending on the bed bugs age and sex. A fluid is injected into the wound while feeding which may cause irritation and inflammation. In many cases welts develop, however, persons bitten by bed bugs may react differently. In some cases, the bite causes little inconvenience. The fact that bed bugs take at least five blood meals prior to maturity has placed these insects under suspicion as potential vectors of disease. However, there is no convincing evidence that this is true.

Initially, bed bugs are found in bedding and associated tufts, seams, and folds of infested mattresses. As the insects multiply, they spread to window and door casings, pictures, loosened wallpaper, plaster cracks, baseboards and partitions. They are readily moved about in clothing, traveling bags and suitcases, laundry, second hand beds and furniture. Bed bugs are found in just about any habitat which offers darkness, isolation, and protection. This includes new and old buildings. Even the best maintained households are not exempt from invasion, although proper sanitation is the best preventative measure against these and many household pests. Close relatives of bed bugs include the bat bug which is common in attics infested with bats, and swallow and chimney swift bugs which are frequent in homes inhabited by swallows, pigeons, and other wild birds. These insects prefer hosts other than man; however, they may feed on man if the opportunity presents itself.

Answer 8

There is an actual "bed bug".. it's a beetle i believe.. but i don't believe they exist in the US so I've never really studied them that much.. in the US the biggest thing you have to worry about is dust mites in your bed.. and so long as you wash your sheets at least once every two weeks no worries there. as for the bed bugs.. i remember seeing a thing on one of those science shows about them once.. and they didn't hurt the people enough to wake them from sleep.. I'd guess.. and this is purely a guess.. it'd be on about the same level as a spider bite.

Answer 9

they are not a mite, or small & white, and it has nothing to do with being dirty! they are a parasitic beetle about the size of a ladybird
(ladybug) but brown in colour, and need to feed on human blood. you don't feel the bite until you wake up and it itches like hell due to them injecting an anticoagulent. most infestations are from buying second hand furniture, and it does not matter where you site it in the house they will find you! you do have them in the us -canada - england etc. they are worldwide the little stinkers.

Answer 10

they bite like hell....check the seems of your bed and check your bedding for little black and blood spot. They can be in the base of you bed. These things can hide for months. you need to check the base of the bed all of it...if you have them. Get rid of your bed...wash everything you have in hot hot water and if you have been to anyones house and slept in their bed better tell them about this to, as they can lie dormant for 3 months. This is brought in by someone or by buying second hand beds.
the bites are a bit like mosqito bites and will itch like mad...you will be woken up in the middle of the night from the bites...get pest controll in

best of best of luck...