What do you think when you hear about bed bugs? These are nasty, blood-sucking creatures that spoil a person’s life. Usually it is, but not everyone knows how many species of these insects live on earth. Zoologists can count dozens of different names, and each of them differs from the rest in lifestyle and food style. Today we consider varieties of bugs, increase the level of literacy.
general description
These are insects that have inhabited our planet since ancient times. Their story is shorter than that of cockroaches, but no less impressive. All varieties of bedbugs belong to the family of Hemoptera. However, quite large species differences are observed inside it. Moreover, they are different not only in appearance. Habitat, food style and more. The most common are garden, garden and bed. Other varieties of bedbugs are known to science, but in one article there is not enough space for their review.
Family Features
Let's start with the signs that unite them. All half-winged are relatives, and therefore have similar features. They can lead a different lifestyle. All varieties of bugs have a piercing-sucking apparatus. This allows them to pierce the tissues of other insects, animals, humans or plants. They suck out nutrients, thereby supporting their own existence.
Flying species have a similar wing structure. Some species have lost the ability to fly in whole or in part. A bed bug belongs to those, this parasite settles in the crevices of the building and in sofas, and feeds on human blood. All varieties of bedbugs (the photo shows their similarity) have a special secret that betrays their presence. This forest species is especially famous for this - a green bug. There are very small species, only 1 mm, while others, on the contrary, grow up to 10 cm in length. The first are mostly parasites, so it’s convenient for them to hide.
Useful garden insects
Not all varieties of bedbugs (see photo in the article) can be attributed to the unambiguous enemies of man. Useful species include garden bugs. They are very common, but most people identify them as beetles. They are predators and eat pests of cultural plantings.
- The Podisus bug destroys the Colorado potato beetles. Nobody hunts these striped creatures anymore. Bedbugs are specially bred and released on potato beds. For one, they destroy the scoop and other harmful insects and their larvae.
- Bedbug soldier. It destroys the eggs of insect pests, which is of great benefit.
- Flower bugs are the best friends of greenhouses. Indoors, they destroy the eggs of various insects, ticks, larvae and thrips.
Harmful garden bugs
Almost endlessly, you can consider the species of bugs. Photos and descriptions of these species will help you deal with this complex family. So, pests also live in the garden. Among them are:
- Turtle - these insects cling to branches of garden trees and suck out all the juices from them. Young branches and seedlings die after a bug attack.
- Cruciferous bugs - these creatures are pests that eat seedlings of cabbage and other plants from this group. Moreover, they are not even eaten by birds, who, having seen a bright color, immediately understand that these unpleasant insects can produce liquid with an unpleasant odor.
Water bug
Continuing the description of varieties of bugs, he goes on to formidable predators. Water strider differs from all other varieties precisely in its bloodthirstiness. It can feed on insects and arthropods, mollusks and fish. Water riders drink blood even in turtles. These insects live in ponds, for sure you also saw them. They know how to fly, but they do it solely in order to move to the place of wintering.
During the summer season they spend all their time on the water. Using the force of surface tension, the bug glides over the water, resting on four long legs. Chasing the victim, he pushes the front, to accelerate.
Gladysh
Another amazing creature, which at first glance is difficult to attribute to this family. As you can see, the species of bedbugs never ceases to amaze. A photo with the names will allow you to quickly understand the distinguishing features and easily recognize some from others. So, the terrible water predator smoothies also enters the squad of bugs. It is very easy to recognize by habit, swim back up. So it is less noticeable for birds and fish.
This predator prefers to hunt mosquito larvae, as well as its smaller counterparts. The second name is Water Wasp. Smokers never attack a person, but if you try to grab an insect, it will award a painful bite. At night, they get to land, take off and go in search of new ponds, if the old does not suit them.
Carnivorous bugs
The habitat covers almost all levels of the geosphere. They can be found on trees and plants, under stones and on the ground, in bird nests, in burrows, deserts and ponds. They feed on insects and their remains, or parasitize on vertebrates. Predators of the Reduviidae family live in farm buildings. They prey on flies sleeping at night, cockroaches and bed bugs. A person is rarely attacked, usually by accident. But the bites are very painful.
Bedbugs
A huge group includes insects, which exist due to larger organisms. Moreover, only some of them choose the object of "adoration" of a person. More than 30 species parasitize on birds, rodents and bats. A little more detailed consider the varieties of home bugs. The photo and description will allow everyone to make sure that they are ready to meet uninvited guests in their home. But for now, very briefly about other representatives of this group.
The entire Cimicidae family is characterized by a parasitic lifestyle, for which they are not loved.
- Cimicides are nocturnal parasites that hide in crevices during daylight hours. Attack the victim when she is sleeping. It is impossible to feel a bite, because unlike mosquitoes or lice, bloodsuckers do not give out their presence. There is an anesthetic in saliva, which means that the victim will sleep peacefully.
- "Kissing bugs." They belong to the species indicated above, to its most dangerous representatives. They live in South America. Their characteristic features are bites in the face, as well as severe consequences: headache, itching and loss of consciousness. But this is not the main danger. The triatom bug (this is its official name) is a carrier of parasites that, getting into the human bloodstream, begin to eat the blood of their victim. Medicines only help in the very early stages of infection.
Varieties of home bugs
Some believe that representatives of one species live in a person’s dwelling, while others are sure that this is not so. Let’s look in scientific guides what science representatives think about this. The first on this list are bed bugs. The Cimex Lectularius species has fully adapted to life next to humans. After World War II, the domestic bug was almost completely eliminated, remaining only in the least socially favorable places. But he was not completely defeated. Periodically, here and there, people are surprised to find that someone bites them at night, and this is clearly not a mosquito.
The second species is Cimex hemipterus. On the territory of our country they do not exist, they are inhabitants of tropical forests.
The trouble of the southern regions - Cimex pilosellus
They do not live in all areas, but only where there is a family of bats. These bugs develop their population in a colony of bats, which often live in attics or outside the walls of a building. If the flying creatures decided to move to a new place of residence, then the insects move into a person’s dwelling and begin to attack him with no less zeal than the true owners. This species can live directly on the body of the bat, as well as near their nights. When experiencing a shortage of blood, the entire colony begins to look for a new place for feeding.
Oeciacus vicarius
This parasite is found in birds, and in most cases in swallows. A person’s problems begin when birds sculpt their nests near their dwelling. In autumn, swallows go south, and the parasites fall asleep due to a seasonal drop in temperature. In spring, they awaken from hibernation and go in search of fresh blood. Usually, a person acts as its source.
Oeciacus Vicarius is the most tenacious species whose representatives can survive a drop in temperature below -15 degrees. Therefore, Russian winters are not fully protected against parasites.
What do home bugs look like?
Today, most people consider bedbugs a relic of the past and do not expect to see them in the walls of their home at all. But they are no less real than mosquitoes and other insects. Bedbugs can get into your home at any time. Therefore, in order to immediately understand the cause of the appearance of red spots on the skin, you need to be able to distinguish bites from allergies. Itchy pimples do not pass, but only increase in number, which indicates the appearance of bugs in the apartment. The species is usually Cimex Lectularius, so let's describe the appearance of these insects.
Common symptoms
The size of insects is usually with apple seed, about 7 mm long. The body shape is oval, long and flat, brown. If the bug has recently been fed, it may be lighter. The whole body is divided into a head with antennas and a segmented abdomen. After tight feeding, it takes the form of a ball.
The habitat of bugs can be distinguished by a characteristic smell. It is unpleasant, moldy and sweet. Its appearance is associated with a secret produced by special glands, which are located on the underside of the body of bugs. Add to this the smell of feces, because they feed exclusively on blood.
Young individuals or nymphs
Some believe that this is another type of domestic bugs. Photos of these parasites are placed by their "popular" name, which contributes to the dissemination of this opinion. In fact, nymphs are just cubs, young individuals. Outwardly, they look like adult bugs, but there are some differences. The young are somewhat smaller in size, their body is translucent. If the nymph did not drink a portion of her blood, you may not notice it at all.
If bed bugs appear at your place, then it is worth looking for egg laying. These are tiny formations, the size of a pinhead, in pearl white.
What are the bugs dangerous?
Should I panic if these insects settled in your home? Bedbug eats exclusively blood and nothing more. It is believed that they can transmit the causative agents of the most serious diseases, but this is not confirmed. Despite this, the obvious harm from them is:
- violation of sanitary standards of human habitation;
- chronic disturbance of night sleep;
- red rashes on the site of bites, which also severely itch;
- blood stains on the sheets, drunk bugs do not have time to crawl away, and a person crushes them in a dream.
Instead of a conclusion
There are a lot of varieties of bugs, among them there are both harmful and useful. Therefore, it would be nice to know the distinctive features of individual representatives, so as not to destroy in vain garden bugs. But the bed bloodsuckers deserve the most severe punishment. It is good that today there is a huge amount of insecticides that are relatively safe for humans and allow you to clean the house of insects.
You can fight bugs on your own or contact a special organization that is engaged in the rehabilitation of housing. The second method is preferable, as specialists have high-quality solutions for treating various surfaces, as well as protection for their safe application. Therefore, unlike you, employees of such teams will not harm themselves and others.