Bed bug
The bed bug is a small flat bug that drinks people's blood. It hides in cracks near beds during the day and comes out at night while we sleep. It does not live on people, it only visits them for a quick meal.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It likes to eat in the dark, when it is warm and people are sleeping.
A grown-up bed bug can live for up to six months without a meal.
It travels the world hidden in suitcases.
It has been found in hotels, hospitals, trains, ships and even airplanes.
Its eggs are smaller than a millimetre and shaped like tiny vases.
Most asked questions about Bed bug
?Do bed bugs spread diseases?
Scientists have looked hard, but have not found that bed bugs pass diseases to people. Their bites can still itch a lot.
?Where do bed bugs hide?
In cracks and hiding spots near where people sleep. They only come out for short meals.
?How do bed bugs get into a house?
Most often they ride along in suitcases and bags, or on old furniture.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cimex lectularius
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Cimicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Cimicidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Common bedbug
Where the facts come from
- Cimex lectularius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by AJC1 from UK. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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