At each stage of shedding. which usually lasts from seven to 10 weeks, the nymph requires a full meal of blood to survive. Full-grown bedbugs, however, can live for years without taking anything.
The bedbug's bite never goes unnoticed even to a sleeping victim for it is extremely itchy. Other symptoms are swelling and inflammation of the skin in the form of whitish wheals, edema and pain.
"Bedbugs bite the parts of the body which are not covered by night clothing, especially the ankles, wrists, and neck, The bite causes intense itching which leads to scratching and sometimes secondary infection. The appearance of a bedbug bite shows a central puncture spot surrounded by swollen inflamed wheals. The discomfort and disgust caused by this pest may result in mental anguish, particularly in persons who are required by circumstances to continue to sleep in the same infested bed," said Dr. Morris Fishbein, the late editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, in his “Popular Illustrated Medical Encyclopedia.†(Next: How to eliminate bedbugs.)