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found a bug, took a picture

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lemon676

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 19:36:16
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after scouring the internets, i'm not very positive about the prospect of this NOT being a bed bug.
but i'd like another opinion.

thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54447954@N08/5034799882/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54447954@N08/5034799926/
spideyjg

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 19:39:06
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Sorry, it is. Keep for proof.

Looks like it is laying an egg too. Find that and destroy it.

Jim
Richard56

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 19:44:57
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Sorry about that. It looked like a bed bug to me as well, but didn't feel qualified as someone like Jim to break the news.

At least you know what you got, and while this may seem like a small comfort, to those of us who struggled for sometimes months in bed bug limbo will know what I mean.

Now that you know the enemy you can begin the fight.

All the best,

Richard
lemon676

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 19:46:51
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great.

it might not be an egg; i sort of squished it on accident with the ruler. there's two photos in my stream i took before the ruler that don't have the gooey stuff.

thanks for the help.
BBcoukHome

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 19:52:52
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Hi,

It is a bedbug but thankfully it is also not an adult so can't be laying an egg.

The colour of the exoskeleton is too opaque for it to be a 4th or 5th stage nymph so I would recon 2nd or 3rd.

I would advise that you have an entomologist look at the sample as I am not 100% sure its Cimex lectularius the common bedbug although the resolution of the images would need to be higher to be certain. My gut is saying bat or swallow bug but an entomologist will hopefully confirm for you.

Hope that helps.

David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited
spideyjg

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 22:05:44
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Looks about 3.5 mm engorged with blood so I would guess 2 or 3'rd also.

The fact it is full of blood distended the abdomen so ID on that is out.

I say lectularius because I always look at the eyes. BBs are like Quint said in Jaws, "Dead eyes. Shark eyes.", where bat bugs do not have as refined an eye. You can see far more faceting on the eyes of batbugs.

The pronotum of the bat and bed is more "horse collar" like than the other Cimex.

Lou, EffeCi what say you guys. Lectularius or some other Cimex?

Either way Lemon you have a problem and need to prepare for the war on BBs. It is always sad to give a positive BB identification.

Think where you found it and consider that the hot zone for the PCO to address. Don't go hog wild on the hot zone to avoid inducing BB panic.

Jim
lemon676

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue Sep 28 2010 23:53:50
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thanks everyone. i found it in a pile of laundry on the floor near my bed. yesterday i noticed some telltale three-in-a-row bites on my leg, so i guess it was pretty fortunate that i found it today. i'm going to talk with my landlord tomorrow; i live in san francisco and from what i've read it's his responsibility to call in the experts.

i have a dog, but i haven't yet found any really good info on the forums about the treatments being bad for his health-- ie, do i have to board him until this is taken care of?-- can anyone point me in the direction of some discussion/information on this?

thanks again
EffeCi

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Sep 29 2010 5:58:26
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Lou, EffeCi what say you guys. Lectularius or some other Cimex?

Mmmmh... Jim... that's not so easy from a pic

Last year I found a single strange specimen of BB, in the bed of a friend of mine that came back from India a few months before (he has married an indian girl). Luckily it was a male, so there was not an infestation.
I supposed it was C. hemipterus, but I was wrong.
We discussed the identification in an entomologic italian forum for weeks, and finally a Hemiptera italian specialist (Paride Dioli) stated that it was a specimen of Cimex burmanus (never found in Italy or Europe before).

It's really difficult to identificate exactly a BB if it's not an adult and not a female.
Differences in pronotum shape are not enough...
spideyjg

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Sep 29 2010 9:45:40
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Thanks EffeCi. I know the be all end all ID is under the microscope but based on the drawings in Usingers Monograph the pronotum difference is the one that that stands out on Lectularius and Adjunctus compared to the other Cimex.

Jim
EffeCi

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Sep 29 2010 10:19:42
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If you want to see the thread... (sorry, texts are obviously in Italian...)

http://www.entomologiitaliani.net/public/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=272&t=523&hilit=Cimex