Bed Bugs: Why they will never be exterminated

Bed bug infestations are creeping out commuters and hotel guests in London at the moment and are hitting the press headlines.  I did a presentation on the evolution of bed bugs a few years ago so it seemed sensible to revisit this quite fascinating creature to explain why they are here to stay.

References for Bed Bugs 

 

Akhoundi, M., Sereno, D., Durand, R., Mirzaei, A., Bruel, C., Delaunay, P., Marty, P. and Izri, A, (2020). Bed bugs (Hemiptera, Cimicidae): overview of classification, evolution and dispersion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), p.4576. 

 

Basnet, S. and Kamble, S.T., (2018). RNAi-mediated knockdown of vATPase subunits affects survival and reproduction of bed bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). Journal of medical entomology, 55(3), pp.540-546. 

Booth, W., 2019. Evolution: Bedbugs Evolved before Their Assumed Ancestral Host. Current Biology, 29(11), pp.R413-R415. 

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Carayon, J., (1966). Traumatic insemination and the paragenital system. Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera). College ParkMd: Entomological Society of America, pp.81-166. 

 

Davies, T.G.E., Field, L.M. and Williamson, M.S., (2012). The re‐emergence of the bed bug as a nuisance pest: implications of resistance to the pyrethroid insecticides. Medical and veterinary entomology, 26(3), pp.241-254. 

DeVries, Z.C., Santangelo, R.G., Booth, W., Lawrence, C.G., Balvín, O., Bartonička, T. and Schal, C., (2020). Reproductive compatibility among populations and host‐associated lineages of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.). Ecology and evolution, 10(20), pp.11090-11099. 

 

Mamidala, P., Jones, S.C. and Mittapalli, O., (2011). Metabolic resistance in bed bugs. Insects, 2(1), pp.36-48. 

Morrow, E.H. and Arnqvist, G., (2003). Costly traumatic insemination and a female counter-adaptation in bed bugs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270(1531), pp.2377-2381. 

Pfiester, M (2009). Photograph.  Found at  www.researchgate.net/publication/224497702_Sexual_Conflict_to_the_Extreme_Traumatic_Insemination_in_Bed_Bugs .  Accessed 24th May 2022 

Power and Syred., (no date). Photograph. Found at https//psmicrographs.com/insect-genitalia/. Accessed 24th May 2022. 

Reinhardt, K. and Siva-Jothy, M.T., (2007). Biology of the bed bugs (Cimicidae). Annu. Rev. Entomol., 52, pp.351-374. 

Roth, S., Balvín, O., Siva-Jothy, M.T., Di Iorio, O., Benda, P., Calva, O., Faundez, E.I., Khan, F.A.A., McFadzen, M., Lehnert, M.P. and Naylor, R., (2019). Bedbugs evolved before their bat hosts and did not co-speciate with ancient humans. Current Biology, 29(11), pp.1847-1853. 

Saenz, V.L., Booth, W., Schal, C. and Vargo, E.L.,(2012). Genetic analysis of bed bug populations reveals small propagule size within individual infestations but high genetic diversity across infestations from the eastern United States. Journal of medical entomology, 49(4), pp.865-875. 

 

Small, E., (2019). In defence of the world’s most reviled invertebrate ‘bugs’. Biodiversity, 20(4), pp.168-221. 

 

Usinger, R.L., (1966). Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera). 

Walpole, D.E. and Newberry, K., (1988). A field study of mating between two species of bedbug in northern KwaZulu, South Africa. Medical and veterinary entomology, 2(3), pp.293-296.