What is a "bed bug"?

Answer 1

There's more at the link.

The common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) is the best adapted to human environments. It is found in temperate climates throughout the world and has been known since ancient times.

Other species include Cimex hemipterus, found in tropical regions (including Florida), which also infests poultry and bats, and Leptocimex boueti, found in the tropics of West Africa and South America, which infests bats and humans. Cimex pilosellus and C. pipistrella primarily infest bats, while Haematosiphon inodora, a species of North America, primarily infests poultry.

Oeciacus, while not strictly a bedbug, is a closely related genus primarily affecting birds.


Physical characteristics
Adult bedbugs are reddish brown, flattened, oval, and wingless, with microscopic hairs that give them a banded appearance. A common misconception is that they are not visible to the naked eye. Adults grow to 4 to 5 mm (one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch) in length and do not move quickly enough to escape the notice of an attentive observer. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent, lighter in color and continue to become browner and moult as they reach maturity. When it comes to size, they are often compared to lentils or appleseeds

Answer 2

There are two main definitions for a "bed bug"

*Bug of temperate regions that infests especially beds and feeds on human blood

*Small nocturnal insects of the family Cimicidae that feed on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts.

To find out more about bed bugs, go to:

Answer 3

Literally a bug that eats all your old and discarded flesh, left in the bed!!!! Microscopically small, they are the most hideous looking bugs that you can imagine, and there are many more types that do similar jobs, that live on the body.....interesting topic.

Answer 4

a very small bug that lives off dead skin etc you leave in the bed.

Answer 5

Ticks, fleas, mites, and other small biting insects that could potentially live and breed in dirty sheets.