You will itch, and there may be swelling, which is an allergic reaction -- but they don't carry disease. Look for clusters of three or four bites -- known as the "breakfast, lunch and dinner" pattern. Bed bugs are the size and color of an apple seed and will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply (you). They can be found in mattresses, baseboards, electrical switch plates, picture frames, wallpaper, upholstery and furniture crevices.

Experts cite increased travel, increased population density, resistance to chemicals, changes in sanitation and pest control techniques: For example, hotel laundries using cold water, not hot; and pest control operators no longer spraying for roaches -- believed to have had a secondary effect in killing the bedbugs -- but setting traps for them instead.

Very. They can live for two years without food, so be careful when bringing vintage clothing or furniture, which may harbor them, into the house. When temperatures fall below 55 degrees, bedbugs start to enter semi-hibernation, although they can survive for at least five days at temperatures of 14 degrees or higher. If temperatures rise about 110 degrees, that starts to kill the bedbugs.

Because they like to hide in warm beds and feed on humans while they sleep. They also go by other names: wall louse, mahogany flat, crimson rambler, heavy dragoon, chinche and redcoat.

Sure, if you don't mind cockroaches, ants, spiders and centipedes in the house.

See the Harvard School of Public Health website: http://identify.us.com/bed-bugs/frequently-asked-questions-/

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.