Bed Bugs Anatomy

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the anatomy of bed bugs in details. These microscopic mahogany insects that can often be found around every corner of a hotel room and can be transported to your home in Edmonton, Red deer and Calgary through the luggage you have traveled with. No matter how hard it is for you to imagine but these small parasites can disturb smooth course of your life and put your health at hazard. Therefore, as soon as you detect signs of bed bug infestation, “We Clean Pest Control” advise you to contact our Edmonton Pest Control office to deal with infestation.

In order to help homeowners to recognize them, we will list main body parts of bed bugs and will add a short description for each part.

Scroll Over the Bed Bug Image to See an Explanation of Body Part.

1. 1. Size of an Adult Bed Bug
      A normal bed bug size is about 4-5 mm. It is similar to the size of an apple seed.
   2. Proboscis
      This is small tube which is tucked under the mouth of bed bugs and elongates when they are ready to feed. Through this bed bugs injects anti-coagulating saliva and then withdraws the blood from their host human.
   3. Color of Bed Bug
      Bed bug color is rusty brown or Mahogany, but newly hatched nymphs are white until they molt.
   4. Eyes Of Bed Bugs
      Bed bugs have compound eyes and a single larger eye is made up of many repeating units known as commatidia. According to center for disease control and prevention (CDC), this makes the bed bug’s eyes very sensitive to movement.
   5. Antennae
      The antennae have four segments each and are about half as long as the body of bed bug. Antennae act as sensor to guide bed bug towards their host human.
   6. Head
      Bedbugs have a short and broad head that attaches to their thorax.
   7. Wing Pads
      Adult bed bugs have vestigial wings, means that bedbugs have undeveloped wings in the form of wing pads. As they do not have complete/full wings hence bed bugs cannot fly. It is thought that ancient ancestors of bed bugs once had wings, but the species evolves with the passage of time to no longer need them.
   8. Thorax
      Thorax is the body segment of bed bugs where the legs are attached and enabling them to move.
   9. Abdomen
      The abdomen has 11 segments that bed bugs to easily expand allowing the them to fill with blood and pump up during feeding. The female has a rounded tip and the male has pointed tip abdomen.
   10. Setae
       These are small and tiny sensory structures covering the bed bug’s abdomen that can be mistaken for hair.
   11. Legs
       Bed bugs have three pair of legs (six legs) that are adapted for crawling. They can crawl 4 feet per minute. The claws of bed bugs are used for gripping rough surfaces as well as the host (human) when the bed bugs are feeding. Their legs lack suction pads preventing bedbugs from climbing smooth surfaces.