There are many creatures in the world that suck human blood, such as mosquitoes and leeches. There was one more class of crawling insects about 4 decades ago called bedbugs (or Khatmal in Hindi) scientifically called Cimex rotundatus. The history of bedbugs, the diminutive bloodsuckers dates back to ancient Egypt. That's right — bedbugs have been a household pest issue for more than 3,300 years!
Bedbugs are not new to our generation of 60-70 years olds. We can easily recollect many sleepless nights because of them. Bother from bed bugs in those days was like the present mosquito trouble. It is no exaggeration to say that homes without bedbugs did not exist in those days! Luckily the current generation have not seen them. That is why we don't hear hear anyone say "he is a blood sucker like a bedbug" these days. Almost certainly we carried home bedbugs with us if went to watch films in a movie theatre or travelled by train or bus or visited hotels or lodges for stay. 'Bedbug' is such a misnomer. They should also be called pet bugs and suitcase bugs and train bugs and movie theater bugs. Bedbugs spread away from beds into living areas and can be seen on any surface, including chairs, railings and ceilings. Cots, beds, pillows and chairs were where they abounded. Coconut fibre rope woven cots, cotton/plastic tape cots, beds kept under sun for driving out bedbugs was a common sight in those days. With a touring job, I had to stay in hotels and lodges for 2 weeks every month and suffer sleepless nights due to bedbugs. Visitors / guests visiting our homes were surely carrying them. A bug bite usually resulted in skin rash resulting in loss of sleep. Sometimes the itching resulted in excessive scratching that increased the chance of a secondary skin infection. Tik-20 (Diazinon) was the most popular bedbug killer. Every home stocked Tik-20 in those days. Now it is a banned product.
Bedbugs are slow movers covering about a meter distance per minute. Bedbugs are slow to reproduce. Each adult female produces about one egg per day; a common housefly lays 500 eggs over three to four days. There is a myth that Bedbugs can typically live a year without a meal. Scientists debate this point, but evidence suggests that at normal room temperature, about 23 degrees Celsius, bedbugs can only survive two to three months without a blood meal. But because they are cold-blooded, their metabolism will slow down in chillier climates, and the insects may live up to a year without feeding. Bedbugs bite only at night is another myth. Although bedbugs are generally nocturnal, they're like humans—if they're hungry, they'll get up and get something to eat. "If you go away to visit a friend for a week and you come back and sit down on the couch, even though it's daytime the bedbugs will come looking for you. Keeping a light on, then, unfortunately does not keep these tiny vampires away. Bed bugs are not known to spread diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, encephalitis like mosquitoes.
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