Amazing Animals: Bedbug Quiz

Bedbugs all but vanished from the United States after the 1950s, when saturating an infected home with DDT was a common (and quite effective) practice.

The ban on DDT and international travel are the primary contributors to the recent resurgence of bedbugs.

Bedbugs feed on the blood of hosts, whether that be humans, birds or another animal.

These insects are called "bedbugs" because they eat primarily while their host is asleep. That's why the host's sleeping area (whether bed or nest) is the most common spot for the tiny insects to feed, hide and lay their eggs in.

Bedbugs prefer dark, protective spaces for nesting, like in couches and cracks in the wall.

It can take anywhere from three to 10 minutes for the bug to fill up with your blood, and the host seldom wakes up while the bedbug feeds.

Repeated exposure to bedbug bites can result in an allergic reaction. This means more itchiness and swelling than you might experience with a typical mosquito bite, although over-the-counter antihistamines and anti-inflammatory drugs are usually all you need for relief.

Adult bedbugs can live up to a year without a meal.

Traditional baits and traps won't work on this type of bug, so clearing your house of the infestation will require effort. Heavy-duty vacuuming and exposing the bugs to extreme temperatures are some of the treatments.

A messy home offers more places for bedbugs to hide, so cleaning up the clutter is one of the first steps to getting rid of a bedbug problem.