BUG WEEK: Day 2- Is this a bug bite?

Usually you can tell when you get a bug bite because you feel the pinch of the bite. But there are a few bugs/arachnids that inject a cytotoxin or numbing poison while biting so that you cannot feel the pinch of the bite. They are:
1. bed bugs
2. brown recluse
3. ticks

We'll just discuss bed bugs today...


BED BUGS (Cimex lectularius)


- blood-sucking, but do not transmit disease, can get multiple bites from one bug, nocturnal
- superficial bites, produce wheal +/- pustules and itching, usually in groupings
- look similar to bites from fleas, body lice, and scabies
- prefer humans, but can be transmitted on dogs and cats, clothing, and luggage
- look for excrement on the seams of the mattress and look for bugs up near head of bed around mattress frame or box spring
- treat with topical steroids for itching and topical antibiotics if pustules or broken skin
- although relatively harmless, they can give people delusional parasitosis (make you feel itchy, even when there aren't bugs on you)... which I think I have after reading all about bed bugs