Bed Bugs
Latin Name: Cimex lectularius
L.
Appearance: Flat, reddish-brown, oval insects about 3/16 inch
long or the size of an apple seed. Swollen and reddish after a blood
meal.
Habit: Cracks and crevices including mattress seams, sheets,
furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames.
Often found in hotels, where they can travel from room to room and in
visitors’ luggage.
Diet: Feed on blood.
Reproduction: Females can deposit one to five eggs a day, and
may lay 200 to 500 eggs in her lifetime. Under normal room temperatures
and with an adequate food supply, bed bugs can live over 300 days.
Other: Bites can leave itchy, bloody welts on the skin and can
cause allergic reactions, such as severe itching. [See below photos]
^Top
of Page^
Crickets
Latin Name: Order Orthoptera:
Family Gryllidae
Appearance: Adults about 3/4-inch long with 3 dark bands on
the head and thin antennae. Body is yellowish-brown.
Habit: Active at night. Attracted to lights.
Diet: Omnivorous: eat almost anything available.
Reproduction: Closely related to cockroach reproduction.
Other: House crickets can damage silk, woolens, paper, fruits
and vegetables.
^Top
of Page^
Earwigs
Latin Name:
Appearance: In Wisconsin, European earwigs are reddish
brown and about 3/4 inch long. Their most distinctive feature is the
prominent, pincers-like cerci (pronounced "sir-see) on the end
of the abdomen.
Some earwigs have wings, but fly very
badly. Until 1982 Eauropean earwig reports in Wisconsin were limited
to the Lake Michigan shoreline. But in the years since, earwig infestations
have spread fast across Wisconsin.
Habit: Active at night and hide
during the day in almost any dark, confined space, particularly if
it is moist. Their quick movements, size, and color often cause them
to be mistaken for cockroaches. Pairs of earwigs overwinter by digging
2-3 inches inthe the soil to hypernate. They often come indoors to
hide, or they conceal themselves under outdoor furniture, hoses, garbage
cans, or poor-fitting well caps. They do not breed indoors but simply
hide, then become active at night.
Diet: Omnivorous: Feed on other insects (aphids, mites, fleas
and insect eggs) and plants (dahlias, marigolds, lettuce, potatoes,
hostas, mosses, lichens and algae).
Reproduction: Sometime during the winter or early spring the
female lays 25-30 eggs. Very rate among insects, female earwigs care
for eggs and young. The females turn, lick and reposition their eggs.
They also bring food to the newly hatched young and protect them in
the next.
Other: Earwigs use their cerci (pincers-like protrusions at
the rear of the body) for defense, capturing prey, and sensing the
environment.
^Top
of Page^
Fleas
Latin Name: Order Siphonaptera
Appearance: Small, wingless, about 1/12- to 1/6-inch long.
Covered in spines with piercing mouthparts.
Habit: A parasite that attaches to a host. [See flea bite photos
below]
Diet: Larvae feed on organic debris, particularly the feces
of adult fleas, which contain undigested blood.
Reproduction: Eggs are not attached to the host. Eggs will
hatch on the ground, in nests, carpet, bedding, upholstery or cracks
in the floor. Most hatch within 7 to 14 days.
Other: Powerful legs enable them to jump 7 to 8 inches vertically,
and 14 to 16 inches horizontally. Carrier of parasites and disease
organisms to human and animal hosts.
^Top
of Page^
Mosquitoes
Latin Name: Order Diptera
Appearance: Distinctive from flies because of their long "stinger"
and scales on the back and veins of their wings.
Habit: Found from the tropics to the arctic. Reliant on a water
source.
Diet: Adult female is the only stage that feeds on blood.
Reproduction: Larvae and pupae live in water, preferably still
waters.
Other: Encephalitis spread by mosquitoes continues to be a
problem in the United States.
^Top
of Page^
Ticks
Latin Name: Ixodida (describes
most common ticks)
Appearance: Ticks vary in color by species. Adult ticks are
smaller than a sunflower seed (1/8 to 5/8 inch long if engorged with
blood), while nymphal (or immature) ticks are less than 1/16 inch.
Common problem ticks include the American dog tick, deer or black
legged tick and lone star tick.
Habit: Often found near wooded and highly vegetated areas.
Some species require moisture to survive.
Diet: All females and males of most species feed on blood of
mammals, birds and reptiles.
Reproduction:
There are four stages in a tick’s lifecycle – egg, larvae,
nymph and adult. Ticks have only six legs during their larval stage
and eight legs during their nymphal and adult stages. They consume
blood meals during all stages. Pathogens, or organisms that cause
diseases in the animals they infect, can be passed through the stages
of a tick’s life cycle.
Other: Ticks not only cause irritation and discomfort, but
they also are capable of transmitting serious diseases to humans and
animals.
^Top
of Page^
