Common Name: Bed Bug
Scientific Name: (Cimex lectularius)
General Size: 4mm to 6mm (0.16in to 0.24in)
Look for these Colors: red; brown; purple
The body is flat, rusty red color or even brown (red after feeding). Sizes range
from 4mm to 6mm. Antennae are present and appear quite slender and segmented.
Bed Bugs are wingless.
Bed Bugs enjoy the warmth and constant food supply that mammal hosts offer. Bed
bugs feed for a period of 3 to 5 minutes, after which they are engorged and drop
off the host. They crawl into a hiding place and remain there for several days
digesting the meal. When hungry again, they emerge from the hiding place and
search for a host. Older Bed Bugs may survive up to 2 months or longer without
food Bed Bugs do bite, their bites have not been confirmed as carriers of
diseases. Their bites do, however, cause bumps or swelling and people are known
to have allergic reactions to these bites.
An individual bed bug can lay up to 200 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in
about 6-10 days and the newly emerged bed bug nymphs seek a blood meal. Immature
nymphs molt five times (i.e., they shed their outer exoskeleton in order to
grow) before reaching adulthood.
Bed bugs are active at night and hide during the day.
Bed bugs have resurged to quickly become a very important pest of the 21st
century, as they invade numerous urban areas including hostels, hotels and
residences. Recently bed bugs have found ample opportunity to increase in number
and spread throughout society. Their success is a result of an increased travel
of people and the lack of public awareness.
Carpenter Ant
Characteristics
Carpenter Ant
Adults vary in length (polymorphic)
Minor worker: ¼ inch (6 mm)
Major worker: ½ inch (12 mm)
Carpenter ants feed on sources of protein and sugar. Outdoors, carpenter ants
feed on living and dead insects. They are also very attracted to honeydew, a
sweet liquid produced by aphids and scale insects. Aphids and scales feed on
trees, shrubs, and other plants. Indoors, carpenter ants feed on meats, as well
as syrup, honey, sugar, jelly, and other sweets. Carpenter ants DO NOT eat wood.
They remove wood as they create galleries and tunnels.
Generally nest outdoors- indoor nests my be satellite colonies. Carpenter ants
nest in moist wood including rotting trees, tree roots, tree stumps, and logs or
boards lying on or buried in the ground. They can also nest in moist or decayed
wood inside buildings.
