What do bed bugs feed on? Bed bugs prefer to feed on human blood, but will also bite pets, birds and rats. Bed bugs bite at night and will bite all over a human body, especially around the face, neck, upper torso, arms, and hands. Bed bugs can survive up to one year without feeding. Both male and female bed bugs bite. Faecal spots are often found where they rest. Cast skins will also be found especially where infestations are heavy.
How do bed bugs get into my home? Bed bugs are often carried into a home on objects, such as furniture and clothing. Bed bugs can be found in the following areas:
Seams, creases, tufts, and folds of mattresses and box springs
Cracks in the bed frame and head board
Under chairs, couches, beds, and dust covers
Between cushions of couches and chairs and between curtain folds
Under area rugs and the edges of carpets
In drawers, telephones, radios, and clocks
Behind baseboards and around window and door casings
Behind electrical plates and under loose wallpaper, paintings and posters
In cracks of plaster
Fleas
Fleas are, very small, wingless, laterally flattened insect of order Siphonaptera. Of the 180 species and subspecies indigenous to Canada, 23 are PARASITES of birds, the remainder being mammal parasites.
Range
Six species, introduced from Europe or Asia, are common parasites of humans and domestic animals. Worldwide, the flea fauna is much larger, but incompletely documented. Fleas are most numerous in dry climates such as in BC and Alberta as compared to Québec and the Maritimes.
Structure
Adult fleas are highly specialized: their tough, bristly integument (outer covering) helps adapt them to existence as external parasites of warm-blooded hosts. Ancestors originated in Asia and evolved primarily as temporary parasites of small mammals.
Reproduction and Development
The life cycle begins with an egg, laid in fur or feathers, which drops to the host's nest or the ground. The larva is nonparasitic, feeding on organic debris. It develops into a pupa, enclosed in a cocoon. Both stages are sedentary. Adult fleas can leap 200 times their own length.
Interaction with Humans
Their habits of feeding on blood and occupying filthy places make fleas potential transmitters of disease, particularly bubonic or sylvatic plague.
