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Bed Bugs

 

Cimex lectularius, Cimex hemipterus & Leptocimex boueti

 

(Heteroptera:  Cimicidae)

 

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       Bed bugs were almost eliminated worldwide by the middle of the Twentieth Century.  But, they have begun to return in the Twenty-first Century, with infestations being found all over the United States and Europe.  They are small 4-12 mm,  round and  flattened.  There are no wings for flight and they feed with sucking mouthparts.   Bed bugs have several specialized features in common with some closely related groups, such as loss of simple eyes or ocelli.  Only three species of the Cimex group are pests of humans, e.g., Leptocimex boueti in West Africa, Cimex hemipterus in the tropical areas, and, and Cimex lectularius in temperate and subtropical regions.

 

       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.