Cimex lectularius

Cimex lectularius

Body shape: Oval, extremely flattened (dorso-ventral)
Length: Unfed up to 6 mm, up to 9 mm after engorgement
Color: Unfed red-brown, dark brown after blood meal
Mouth parts: Biting apparatus (proboscis) with 2 bristles which form a pipe-in-pipe system and is folded under the head and frontal thorax in resting position

Signs of Infestation: During the day the bedbugs rest in very narrow crevices (behind skirting boards, pictures and casings, in light switches, in apertures for cables or pipes, cardboard boxes, in bed frames and mattresses, in chinks of furniture and under detached wallpaper). In the case of heavy infestations an unpleasant sweetish odour occurs, produced by special glands in the bugs,. The adult insects are able to survive without a blood-meal for up to one year.

Bed Bugs resistance profile

Multiple resistance mechanisms, including penetration resistance through thickening or remodelling of the cuticle, metabolic resistance by increased activities of detoxification enzymes (e.g. cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and esterases), and knockdown resistance by kdr mutations, have been experimentally identified as conferring insecticide resistance in bed bugs. Other candidate resistance mechanisms, including behavioral resistance, some types of physiological resistance (e.g. increasing activities of esterases by point mutations, glutathione S-transferase, target site insensitivity including altered AChEs, GABA receptor insensitivity and altered nAChRs), symbiont-mediated resistance and other potential, yet undiscovered mechanisms may exist. (Dang K, et al. 2017)

Species	Distribution	Chemical class	Mechanisms

Susceptibility test methods

IRAC Susceptibility Test Method 036 Adults, Nymphs (Topical)