Cimex lectularius
Identification suggestions (from the community or from AI) and the information here may be wrong; this app never confirms that anything is safe to eat. Do not consume wild plants, mushrooms or seafood without expert confirmation. Nothing here is medical advice.
Feeds on blood at night. It transmits no disease, but the bites cause days of itching, lost sleep and secondary skin infection from scratching. It hides in mattress seams, bed frames and behind sockets and will not disappear without treatment.
Ask an adult
Paper-flat oval body before feeding, swollen and darkened after
Wingless, with only vestigial wing pads on the thorax
Itchy welts appearing in rows of three or four