---
title: "What the sources say about the Bed Bug | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "41 claims from the Bed Bug profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Bed Bug (*Cimex lectularius*)

> 41 claims from the Bed Bug profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Bed Bug](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bed-bug/)

## Stutt & Siva-Jothy (2001). Traumatic insemination and sexual conflict in the bed bug Cimex lectularius. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.101440698

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The flat, blood-drinking insect that mates by piercing the female's abdomen and can go months between meals. | the male pierces the female's abdominal wall with his external genitalia and inseminates into her body cavity (note: tagline, mating half) |
| The bed bug, Cimex lectularius, has a mating method called "traumatic" insemination. | The bed bug, Cimex lectularius, has a unique mode of copulation termed "traumatic" insemination |
| the male pierces the female's abdominal wall with his genitalia and injects sperm into her body cavity. | the male pierces the female's abdominal wall with his external genitalia and inseminates into her body cavity (note: "external genitalia" shortened; "inseminates" glossed as injects sperm.) |
| A 2001 study showed this costs females. | traumatic insemination results in ... (iii) reduced longevity and reproductive success in females (note: 2001 is the reference's year field.) |
| Traumatic insemination reduced their longevity and reproductive success | reduced longevity and reproductive success in females |
| the authors concluded that it is probably a coercive male strategy that results in a sexual conflict of interests. | We conclude that traumatic insemination is probably a coercive male copulatory strategy that results in a sexual conflict of interests. |

## Benoit et al. (2016). Unique features of a global human ectoparasite identified through sequencing of the bed bug genome. Nature Communications.

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10165

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| They evolved an organ that reduces the physical trauma of mating, built from a dense patch of resilin, a super-elastic protein. | Females evolved a novel organ that reduces the physical trauma of copulation by means of a dense aggregation of the super-elastic protein resilin |
| The bed bug genome shows a recent expansion in pro-resilin genes, the ones that build resilin. | our genome analysis revealed a recent expansion in pro-resilin genes (note: "the ones that build resilin" glosses pro-resilin.) |
| Unlike most blood-feeding insects, bed bugs can survive long periods of starvation | unlike most other blood-feeding insects, bed bugs can survive long periods of starvation between blood meals |
| Blood is short on some vitamins. | micronutrients that are deficient in vertebrate blood (note: The paper names B vitamins as what Wolbachia supplies.) |
| The bed bug carries a bacterium called Wolbachia, which supplies a cocktail of B vitamins that are critical for its reproduction and development. | Wolbachia provides the bed bug with a cocktail of specific B vitamins that are critical for reproduction and development |

## Delaunay et al. (2010). Bedbugs and Infectious Diseases. Clinical Infectious Diseases.

https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciq102

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Fed Females Are the Target | Males preferentially direct their sexual interest to recently fed females |
| Males prefer recently fed females, which undergo about 5 traumatic inseminations per feeding. | Males preferentially direct their sexual interest to recently fed females, which undergo ∼5 traumatic inseminations per feeding |
| Adults are reddish-brown, flat, wingless ovals of 4 to 7 millimetres, which one medical review compares to confetti. | Adult C. lectularius and C. hemipterus are reddish-brown, flat, wingless ovals (4–7 mm) resembling confetti (note: The review gives this for adults of both the common and tropical bed bug. CDC gives 1 mm to 7 mm across Cimex species.) |
| Newly hatched nymphs are 1 to 3 millimetres long. | yielding the nymphs, which are 1–3 mm long |
| A review of the medical literature says both sexes of the common and tropical bed bug can survive 12 months without a meal, and 1.5 to 2 years in colder places. | Both sexes are hematophagous and can live for 12 months without feeding and even 1.5–2 years in colder environments. |
| Each adult female produces 200 to 500 eggs in her lifetime. | Each adult female produces 200–500 eggs in her lifetime. |
| Every molt needs a blood meal, and with a host around a nymph can move up a stage every 3 to 7 days. | Each molt requires a blood meal, which can last 10–20 min, to grow to the next stage every 3–7 days if a host is available. |

## About Bed Bugs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/bed-bugs/about/index.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The flat, blood-drinking insect that mates by piercing the female's abdomen and can go months between meals. | Bed bugs ( Cimex species ) are small, flat insects. ... feeding on their blood. ... They can live several months without a blood meal. (note: tagline, flat, blood and months half) |
| Not Evaluated | Bed bugs ( Cimex species ) are small, flat insects. (note: The prefetch found no IUCN assessment DOI for Cimex lectularius and GBIF holds no category for it; no IUCN reference is cited. The quote only anchors the row, as in the fruit-fly precedent.) |
| Survives for months without a blood meal, and injects an anesthetic and an anticoagulant when it bites | They can live several months without a blood meal. ... When bed bugs bite, they inject fluids (anesthetic and anticoagulant) that prevents a person from feeling the bite when it happens. (note: stats.superpower) |
| Bed bugs feed on blood | feeding on their blood |
| A feeding bed bug injects an anesthetic and an anticoagulant, a chemical that stops blood clotting. | When bed bugs bite, they inject fluids (anesthetic and anticoagulant) that prevents a person from feeling the bite when it happens. (note: The clotting gloss defines anticoagulant.) |
| Most people do not notice the marks until one to several days later. | Most people do not notice the bite marks until they appear from one to several days after the initial bite. (note: CDC says 'appear'; the body's 'marks until ... later' is the same statement.) |
| A bed bug's slim, flat body slips into very small spaces. | Their slim flat bodies allow them to fit into very small spaces. |
| By day it hides in spots such as mattress seams, bed frames, headboards and behind wallpaper. | The bugs hide during the day in places on or around the bed. They can hide in The seams of mattresses Box springs Bed frames and headboards Dresser tables Inside cracks or crevices Behind wallpaper |
| It can travel over 100 feet in a night, yet tends to live within 8 feet of where people sleep. | Bed bugs can travel over 100 feet in a night but tend to live within 8 feet of where people sleep. |
| the CDC says they can live several months without a blood meal. | They can live several months without a blood meal. |
| The CDC, writing about Cimex bed bugs in general, says they turn up from North and South America to Africa, Asia and Europe, even in five-star hotels and resorts. | Bed bugs ( Cimex species ) are small, flat insects. ... You can find bed bugs anywhere, from North and South America, to Africa, Asia, and Europe. Bed bugs are in five-star hotels and resorts. |
| How clean a place is does not decide whether they are there. | How clean a place is does not determine whether bed bugs are present. |
| They ride in the seams and folds of luggage, clothes and furniture. | Bed bugs spread by getting into the seams and folds of luggage, overnight bags, folded clothes, bedding, furniture, and anywhere else they can hide. |
| The CDC says bed bugs are not known to spread diseases to people. | Bed bugs are not known to spread diseases to people. |
| Their bites can itch and cost people sleep, and rarely cause an allergic reaction. | Bites can cause itching, loss of sleep, and, rarely, allergic reactions. |
| dangerLevel: Low | Bed bugs are not known to spread diseases to people. However, they cause irritation, itching, and loss off sleep. (note: Low = a nuisance; bites itch, rarely allergic.) |
| injects an anesthetic when it bites | When bed bugs bite, they inject fluids (anesthetic and anticoagulant) that prevents a person from feeling the bite when it happens. (note: vibe.reason, animal half) |
| whose bite marks most people do not notice until one to several days later | Most people do not notice the bite marks until they appear from one to several days after the initial bite. (note: vibe.reason, animal half) |

## Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius Linneaus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae). University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS).

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN297

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Human dwellings, bird nests and bat caves | Human dwellings, bird nests, and bat caves are the most suitable habitats for bed bugs (note: stats.habitat) |
| Blood of people, chickens, bats and, occasionally, domestic animals | blood-feeding parasites of humans, chickens, bats, and occasionally domesticated animals (note: stats.diet) |
| the University of Florida lists people, chickens and bats as hosts, with domestic animals occasionally. | blood-feeding parasites of humans, chickens, bats, and occasionally domesticated animals |
| Besides homes, they live in bird nests and bat caves. | Human dwellings, bird nests, and bat caves are the most suitable habitats for bed bugs |
| After its eggs hatch, a nymph needs five molts to reach maturity. | After five molts, which take approximately ten weeks, the nymphs reach maturity (note: IFAS's 'approximately ten weeks' was cut: five molts at Delaunay's 3 to 7 days a stage (FAQ 3) is 15 to 35 days.) |