Common bed bug
Cimex lectularius
CDC / WHO
Key facts in one look
- Group
- Insect · Cimicidae
- Georgian evidence
- Gremi and near Pichkhovani, 2022
- Adult size
- About 5–7 mm
- Where to look
- Cracks close to sleeping places
- Key feature
- Flat, oval, wingless body
- Bite effect
- Itching
The bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is a small, wingless, blood-feeding insect, and its presence in Georgia has been confirmed. An adult is about 5–7 mm long, with a flat, oval body before feeding. Its bite may cause itching, but current evidence does not suggest that it effectively transmits diseases to humans. It is also called the common bed bug and belongs to the Cimicidae family. Specimens were collected on 30 May 2022 in two old churches and described in a scientific paper in 2023. One is the Gremi church in Kvareli Municipality; the other stands near the village of Pichkhovani. At both sites, the bed bugs were found near bat colonies. These two sites cannot show how widespread bed bugs are in homes across the country. According to older reports, in Georgia they also occur in human dwellings.
Identification
Common bed bug: how to identify it
Before feeding, the adult insect is flat. After a blood meal, it swells and turns darker. It has six legs, two antennae and a brownish abdomen clearly divided into segments. The bite alone will not tell you which insect bit you.
A typical adult is 5–7 mm long and cannot fly. The small, immature insects are yellowish-white and are not always easy to spot. The light-colored eggs are about 1 mm in size.
Look for the insect itself or signs of it in mattress seams, the joints of the bed frame and nearby cracks. Dark spots, shed insect skins and eggs make the suspicion stronger. Marks on your skin alone, however, are not a reliable sign.
You can tell it from a tick by its legs: a bed bug has six, while an adult tick has eight. The brown marmorated stink bug is a different insect. It is larger, has a shield-shaped body, feeds on plants and does not suck human blood. Closely related species in the Cimicidae family, however, look very much alike. So you will sometimes need a specialist's help to identify the exact species.
Where they live alongside people, these insects usually hide near places where people sleep or rest. Their hiding places include mattress seams, bed frames and headboards, furniture joints and cracks in walls. The insects described in a study published in 2022, however, were found in old churches in Georgia, near bat colonies. One site was Gremi Church in Kvareli Municipality; the other was a church near the village of Pichkhovani. The researchers also searched caves but found none there.
The bed bug feeds on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Adults feed on blood, and so do young insects at every stage of growth. Bed bugs living close to people often feed on sleeping humans, but they can also feed on the blood of other mammals and birds. In reports published in Georgia, bed bugs were described in association with groups of bats living together.
It usually comes out of hiding at night, though it may also be active during the day. A pale insect hatches from an egg about 1 mm long and goes through five stages before becoming an adult. To move on to each next stage, it needs to feed on blood.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes. In 2022, bed bug samples were collected in Gremi and near the village of Pichkhovani, and in 2023 they were described in a scientific paper. In both places, the bugs were found near bat colonies.
It is about 5–7 mm long. Before feeding, it is flat and oval.
Check the crevices of the bed and mattress. Look there for the insects themselves, their eggs, shed skins and dark spots. A bite alone is not enough to be sure these insects are there.
It feeds mainly at night. However, it may also come out during the day.
It is not considered to pass diseases to people easily. Its bite can still cause itching and disturb your sleep, and in rare cases it can trigger an allergic reaction.
An adult bed bug cannot fly because it has no wings it can use for flight. It does not jump like a flea either. It walks.
No. Bedbugs can get into a well-kept home, too. So a clean home is no guarantee that you don't have them.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
