The detected presence of bed bugs is needed to determine if a reddish “bite” might be from bed bugs.įortunately, extensive testing has determined that bed bugs are incapable of transmitting human pathogens.īat bugs and swallow bugs also occasionally bite humans and there can be a similar range in reaction. Regardless of the symptom that develops, there is nothing unique about bed bug bites that can be used for positive diagnosis. However, these reactions are highly variable and some people show little response while others react strongly. Repeated exposure to bed bug bites may produce more intensive reactions and itchiness. There may be little response immediately following the bite with peak itchiness being noticed at about a week, then gradually declining. Typically, a reddish swelling,(“wheal”)may develop, associated with some swelling and itching. A line of bites may appear where several bed bugs have fed along the edge of a sheet or clothing lying next to the skin.Īlthough the bite is not immediately felt, people often react to the proteins of the bed bug saliva introduced during biting. They often feed for less than 10 minutes before the insect is satiated and returns to a hiding area to digest the meal. Bitesīed bugs usually feed in the middle of the night while people sleep and the bite is painless. The various species found in Colorado can be separated by patterns of hairs, wing pad structures and other features that are summarized in Figure 1. Their body is flattened when unfed, although they swell rapidly with a blood meal. All are wingless, although small wing pads are present on the back. They are reddish-brown to grayish-brown with an oval body form and about 3/8-in long when full-grown. Encounters with humans occur when bird hosts nest in buildings.Īll of these species are generally similar in appearance. This species is present in the southwestern areas of the state. Purple martins and, less commonly, woodpeckers and owls are hosts for H. Human bites are rare and occur when people spend night activities in close proximity to poultry roosting areas. They hide during the day in cracks and crevices around the poultry roost and move out to feed at night. Poultry bugs are associated with chickens and other poultry. The insects are largely dormant during the period between the time nests are abandoned in summer and just prior to the return of swallows the following spring. Swallow bug bites of humans tend to occur in late winter and spring, when the swallow bugs emerge from winter dormancy in anticipation of the return of their swallow hosts. Problems with human bites occur in homes where swallows attached and maintained nests during the previous summer. The swallow bug is a parasite of cliff swallows and, less commonly, barn swallows. However, in the absence of the bat hosts, these insects cannot sustain and reproduce. Bat bugs may move into human living areas and incidentally bite people, with such migrations particularly common when bats migrate or are eliminated from the building. Bat bugs develop in colonies of roosting bats, which sometimes occur in attics or behind walls of buildings. Prior to the recent increase of bed bugs, the bat bug was the most common representative of this group of insects found within homes in Colorado. Bed bugs can be accidentally carried on furniture, luggage and other materials so problems with bed bugs tend to be most severe in apartments, motels and other sites that see high amounts of human traffic.īat bug (Cimex pilosellus). However, within the past decade it has had tremendous resurgence. For several decades following World War II it was largely eradicated form the United States, existing in only small pockets. The bed bug is a notorious species and is the only member of this insect family in Colorado that is adapted to living entirely with humans. Five of the cimicid bugs are presentīed bug (Cimex lectularius). The bed bug, bat bug and related species of the family Cimicidae, are blood sucking insects that feed on birds and/or mammals. Figure 3 (above): Bed bug during course of 12-minute feeding.
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