Tracing Bed Bugs

by Ade Pranata

The number of reported cases of bed bugs in schools, hotels, motels, cruise ships, dormitories, shelters, homes, movie houses and apartments are rising. And the authorities are somehow already alarmed and concerned over the issue.

In the United States alone, it is reported that six out of ten apartments have bed bugs. Because bed bugs are not known to transfer or spread out any form of disease, the alarm is somehow flamed down.

Origins

Bed bugs are tiny, wingless creatures that are scientifically labeled Cimex lectularius. They are very small that you can hardly look at them with your bare eye.

Bed bugs are organisms that come from the world of insects. There are millions of species of insects, both small and large, and it is a wonder how each has its own noteworthy attribute or characteristics.

In the United States, statistics and pest control authorities claim that bed bugs ceased to exist after the World War II in the 1940s. Before the World War, cases of bed bugs were so rampant, but people’s cooperation and breakthroughs in controlling pests helped curtail bed bug infestation post war.

So people might be asking, if the bed bugs did not exist in the country during that time, where do our modern bed bugs come from?

Good and logical question. Theories have it that modern-day bed bugs might have come from Asia, Africa or Europe. If bed bugs can only crawl, they are tiny and with only one-year lifespan, how did they cross borders?

Because bed bugs can thrive in furniture, clothes and baggages, it is believed that American travelers during the time have contributed to the current spread of the pests.

Several travelers might have traveled to one country and stayed in a hotel that was unknowingly infested with bed bugs. The bed bugs might have figured out ways to get inside the luggages and voila! They have traveled across borders!

When the unsuspecting traveler unpacked his or her baggage, that is the time the bed bugs might have come out and spread out.

Races

Bed bugs can come from different countries. It is somehow amusing that like humans, bed bugs also seem to have races.

American bugs are usually pale compared to counterparts in Africa, where bed bugs are usually colored deep brown.

Don’t apply racial discrimination though in tracing where bed bugs come from. <br><br>

Vampires

There is a myth that bed bugs are undeveloped grandchildren of vampires. What a funny and amusing myth!

The notion might have come from the fact that bed bugs, like Dracula and all other vampire characters we know, suck blood for nourishment.

When they do that, their appearances are also somehow changed. Hence, newly fed bed bugs will appear dark-red or reddish in color. Some bed bugs appear like have black mass inside their stomach. <br><br>

So, if the idea is just a stupid myth, where do bed bugs come from?

Where do bed bugs come from?

The question where do bed bugs come from is just like the question where do people come from. Questions on origins do solicit and prompt strong arguments between religion and science.

Science always have ways in determining and finding out where organisms come from. But in the bed bugs’ case, you know that the subject does not evoke a particular need for an answer.

There are much more better and more relevant subjects that deserve more attention than tracing down or determining where bed bugs come from.

One of those concerns, though still related to bed bugs, is how to get rid or control them. Bed bugs might come from Alaska, Antarctica or Samoa. Who will care where bed bugs are coming from, by the way?

The more important issue to consider is how to effectively curtail their spread. You know that use of pesticides and insecticides is one sure option, but you may wonder and think back how safe they are to you, your family and even your neighbors.

The next time you see another bed bug crawling in your bed, isn’t it more appropriate if you ask yourself, “How can I kill this one”, instead of “Where do bed bugs come from?”