People Microbes

Let the bedbugs bite

STEALING BLOOD  Three to 12 minutes is enough for Cimex lectularius to use its long piercing mouthparts (shown in a false-color image) for a stealthy blood heist.

Janice Haney Carr/CDC

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Harold Harlan has been feeding bedbugs, intentionally, on his own blood since 1973. He keeps pint or quart jars in his home containing at least 4,000 bugs.