Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Family Cimicidae - Bed Bugs

Cimex lectularius Found on me - Cimex Batbugs? - Cimex I am terrified  - Cimex lectularius Cimex lectularius? - Cimex lectularius Cimex  - Cimex lectularius Strange Hemipteran - Cimex lectularius Bug
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Cimicomorpha
Superfamily Cimicoidea
Family Cimicidae (Bed Bugs)
Explanation of Names
Cimicidae Latreille 1802
Numbers
15 spp. in 8 genera in our area, 110 spp. in 24 genera total(1)
not yet in the guide: Haematosiphon inodorus (Duges 1892) • Synxenoderus comosus List 1925
Size
4‒12 mm(1)
Identification
(2)
Range
cosmopolitan
Season
year-round
Food
ectoparasites of birds and mammals; most are associated with birds/bats, only Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus are permanently associated with humans(1)
Life Cycle
multiple generations per year
Works Cited
1.Biodiversity of the Heteroptera
Henry T.J. 2009. In: Foottit R.G., Adler P.H., eds. Insect biodiversity: Science and society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 223−263.
2.Cimicids of medical and veterinary importance
Hamlili F.Z., Bérenger J.-M., Parola P. 2023. Insects 14,392: 1‒19.