Datos generales y estadísticas

Overview

Las chinches son pequeños insectos hematófagos que se alimentan principalmente de seres humanos. Miden entre 1 y 5 mm de longitud y son de color marrón rojizo, aunque pueden aparecer de color rojo brillante después de alimentarse.

Tienen el cuerpo ovalado y no pueden volar porque carecen de alas. Estas criaturas son nocturnas y prefieren alimentarse de sus huéspedes mientras duermen.

(De ahí el nombre de chinches).

Las chinches de la cama son extraordinariamente adaptables y pueden encontrarse en todos los continentes excepto en la Antártida. Pueden prosperar en cualquier entorno, independientemente de la higiene general, lo que significa que los hoteles de 5 estrellas son tan vulnerables a las infestaciones como las residencias destartaladas.

La vida natural de un chinche es de un año.

En ese tiempo, una chinche hembra puede poner hasta 500 huevos, o una media de 10 huevos al día.

Las chinches bebé, llamadas ninfas, son de color translúcido e incluso más pequeñas que los insectos completamente maduros. Las ninfas se oscurecen a medida que maduran, proceso que dura varias semanas.

Las picaduras de chinches se asemejan a pequeñas ronchas de color rojo vivo. Suelen aparecer unas horas después de la picadura y acaban curándose al cabo de unas semanas. No se recomienda picar las picaduras, ya que podría romper la piel y provocar una infección.

Aunque la mayoría de la gente sabe que existen las chinches de la cama, muy pocos conocen realmente los detalles más sutiles de estas plagas. Así pues, existen varios conceptos erróneos y falsedades en torno a las chinches de la cama, muchos de los cuales proceden de la confusión general con otras especies de insectos.

Las chinches no transmiten enfermedades. Otras plagas similares que sí transmiten enfermedades son las garrapatas (enfermedad de Lyme) y los mosquitos (paludismo).

A continuación encontrará una biblioteca de recursos que le ayudarán a conocer datos y estadísticas generales sobre las chinches de la cama.

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