Bedbugs are tiny parasites that lay up to five eggs per day and consume human blood. Although an adult bedbug is usually only 1/4-inch in length, it can gorge itself on blood in 15 minutes and balloon to nearly three times its normal size. Bedbugs hide within wall fissures, beneath wallpaper and around bedding. Some types of bedbugs also prey on birds and bats in addition to humans.
Common Bedbug
Cimex lectularius is the classification for the common bedbug that infests households. This type of bedbug can adapt to various temperatures and lives throughout the world. They survive by feeding on warm-blooded animals and human beings. Although mistakenly though of as nocturnal, the common bedbug is active during the day but prefers to feed at night when prey, especially humans, are asleep and less likely to detect its presence.
Bat Bug
Commonly known as the "bat bug," Cimex pipistrella and Cimex pilosellus are bedbugs that feed mostly on bats. They will infest areas where bats are present such as caves, tunnels and trees. They rarely bite and feed on humans. As is true for all bedbugs, do not transmit disease. Bat bugs look different than common bedbugs in that they tend to have longer hairs along the ridges of their head. Ridding an area of a bat bug infestation requires exterminating all the bats, the source of the insect's survival.
Chimney Swift and Swallow Bedbug
The chimney swift bedbug (Cimexopsis nyctalis) and the swallow bedbug (Oeciacus vicarius) consume the blood of birds. They are most often found in places where birds are plentiful but can infest houses where birds have made nests, such as attics, eaves and chimneys. These bedbugs will feed on humans if no birds are present.
West African, South American and Meat and Poultry Bedbugs
Leptocimex boueti, bedbugs native to the west side of Africa and parts of South America, are known to feed primarily on bats in their habitat but will also consume the blood of humans. Haematosiphon inodora is a classification of bedbugs that feed on meat and poultry. Bugs of this species live mostly in the United States. They are rarely found on humans but can sometimes be found on the bodies of pigs.
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