File: <bedbugs.htm > Pooled References GENERAL
INDEX [Navigate to MAIN MENU ]
|
Bed Bugs Cimex lectularius, Cimex hemipterus & Leptocimex boueti (Heteroptera: Cimicidae) |
------ CLICK on photo to enlarge. To search
for Subject Matter, Depress Ctrl/F
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Bed
bugs belong to one of only three lineages within Heteroptera that are
obligate blood feeders or hematophages. Similar to other obligate
blood-feeding insects, cimicids have microbial symbionts in specialized
organs that may be important for a
blood diet. Most cimicids show
narrow host preferences for either birds or bats, but the host range is
believed to have extended from bat to humans in Cimex lectularius. The human bed bug then spread with its new host around the world
with human migration. Bedbugs
do not fly but use their hosts to spread to new places. An adult may live for a year or more without
a blood meal. Once at a new location, females may lay over 450 eggs, which
causes a quickly gives rise to a whole population. Bed bugs are most active at night. Feeding on blood occurs about once every 1-2 weeks, while the
host is sleeping. They feed for only
5-10 minutes on sections of the body that is exposed. When at rest bed bugs may be found in
crevices in their environment, including bed frames, head boards and
mattresses. In their resting places,
bed bugs usually form clusters of adults and immature stages. When the insects are disturbed, the
clusters break up as bed bugs disperse.
Reproductive biology of Cimicidae can involve "traumatic
insemination" in some species (Caryon 1966, Siva-Jothy & Stutt 2003, Stutt & Siva-Jothy 2001). This is where the male transfers sperm by
piercing the body wall of a female with his reproductive organ. Immature bed bugs of both sexes release a
pheromone to communicate their non-reproductive status to males by blocking
male mating attempts that can do physical harm. It is
possible to determine whether bedbugs are present by dark colored stains on
mattresses and surroundings. Control
may be made with insecticides, although other methods such as vacuuming might
be required. Also under consideration
is research on the pheromone that stops male mating attempts. REFERENCES: Barrett, T. V. 1991.
Advances in triatomine bug ecology in relation to Chagas disease. Advances in Disease Vector Research 8: 1843-76. Beard, C. R., C. Cordon-Rosales
& R. V. Durvasula. 2002. Bacterial symbionts and their potential
use in control of Chagas disease transmission. Ann. Rev. Ent. 47:
123-41. Brenner, R. R. &
A. M. Stoka. 1988. Chagas Disease Vectors I: Taxonomic,
Ecological & Epidemiological Aspects.
CRC Press 1988, Boca Raton, Florida. Bryan, R. T., F.
Balderrama, R. J. Tonn & J. C. P. Dias.
1994. Community
participation in vector control:
lessons from Chagas disease. Amer. J. Trop. Medicine
& Hygiene 50: 61-71. Caryon, J. 1966.
In: Monograph of the Cimicidae (ed. R. Usinger). Ent. Soc. Amer. Philadelphia p 81-167. Cohen, Allen C. 1990. Feeding
Adaptations of Some Predaceous Hemiptera.
Ann. Ent.
Soc. Amer. 83 (6): 1215–1223.
Daly,
H. V., John T. Doyen & Alexander H. Purcell. 1998. Introduction to
Insect Biology and Diversity 2nd ed.
Oxford University Press. pp. 320. Forero,
Dimitri. 2008. The Systematics of Hemiptera. Revista
Colombiana de Entomologia. 34 (1):
1–21. Goddard, Jerome.
2009. Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius)
& clinical Consequences of their bites.
J. Amer. Mosq. Contr. Assoc.. 301 (13): 1358–1366.
Goddard,
J. & R. de Shazo. 2009. Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) and
clinical consequences of their bites.
J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 301 (13): 1358–66 Kingman, S. 1991.
South America declares war on Chagas disease. New Scientist (19 Oct)
pp. 16-17. Matheson, R. 1950.
Medical Entomology. Comstock
Publ. Co, Inc. 610 p. Legner, E. F. 1995. Biological control of Diptera of medical
and veterinary importance. J. Vector
Ecology 20 (1): 59-120. Legner, E. F. 2000.
Biological control of aquatic Diptera. p. 847-870.
Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera, Vol. 1, Science Herald, Budapest. 978 p. Lent, H. & P.
Wygodzinsky. 1979. Revision of the Triatominae (Hemiptera,
Reduviidae), and their significance as vectors of Chagas disease. Bull. Amer. Museum of
Natural History 163: 123-520. Matheson, R. 1950.
Medical Entomology. Comstock
Publ. Co, Inc. 610 p.
Reinhardt, Klaus & M. T. Siva-Jothy. 2007. Biology
of the bed bugs (Cimicidae). Ann.
Rev. Ent. 52: 351–374.
Ruppert, Edward E., R.
Fox, S. Richard, & R. D.
Barnes. 2004. Invertebrate Zool., 7th edition. Cengage
Learning. pp. 728- 748.
Service, M. 2008.
Medical Entomology For Students.
Cambridge Univ. Press. 289 p Shcherbakov,
D. E. 2000. Permian
faunas of Homoptera Hemiptera in relation to phytogeography and the
Permo-Triassic crisis.
Paleontological Journal 34, 3: S251–S267. Yamagata, Y. & J.
Nakagawa. 2006. Control of Chagas disease. Adv. in Parasitology 61: 129-65 Siva-Jothy, M. T. &
A. D. Stutt. 2003. A matter of taste: direct detection of
female mating status in the bedbug.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270 (1515): 649-652. Stutt, A. D. &
Siva-Jothy, M. T. 2001. Traumatic insemination and sexual conflict
in the bed bug Cimex lectularis. Proc. United States Natl. Acad. Sci. 98
(10): 5683-5687. |
