Highlights d Bedbugs arose 115 mya, 30+ Ma before their assumed host, bats d From unknown ancestral hosts, several bat and bird host lineages evolved d Humans became hosts three times by host extension of specialists, not host switching d Two urban pests, common and tropical bedbug, split ca. 40 Ma before Homo speciation

Successful management of the bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), is difficult because of its pesticide resistance, which can allow a reduction in population, but not elimination. We evaluated the effect of heat and/or air circulation on the efficacy of dichlorvos resin strips in the control of bed bugs. Treatments were performed in unoccupied dormitory rooms and consisted of dichlorvos resin strips containing 18.6% active ingredient, the same strips + fan, and strips + fan + heat. The mortality of recently fed bed bugs and weight loss of the dichlorvos strips were evaluated over 7 days. Dichlorvos resin strips killed bed bugs and eggs in just over 7 days. The addition of a fan or a fan + heat decreased time to 100% mortality to 3 days and 36 h, respectively. Eggs located in treated rooms did not hatch. Resin strips in the strips + fan treatment and the strips + fan + heat treatment volatilized 10 and 70 times, respectively, faster than strips in the strips-only treatment. The addition of heat in treatments with dichlorvos resin strips enhances the overall efficacy of the volatile insecticide and reduces the time required to eliminate live bed bugs and eggs.

No abstract

Effects of host availability and feeding period on bed bugs, Cimex lectularius (L.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), were measured. Population growth and the potential harmful effect of bed bug populations on human hosts were modelled. Bloodmeal sizes were affected by both feeding length and frequency, with >2-fold difference between insects fed daily or weekly. Blood consumption increased >2-fold between bed bugs fed occasionally and often, and 1.5-fold between occasional and daily feeding. Bed bugs fed more often than once a week, potentially every 2-4 days. Egg production was associated with nutrition, being strongly correlated with blood consumption in the previous week. Bed bug populations can grow under different feeding regimes and are hard to control with <80% mortality. Bed bugs can survive and grow even in locations with a limited blood supply, where bed bug persistence may be important for the continual spread of populations. Persistence in non-traditional locations and a potential association with human pathogens increase the health risks of bed bugs. Potential blood loss as a result of a bed bug can have serious consequences because uncontrolled populations can reach harmful levels in 3-8 months. The reproduction potential of bed bug populations suggests serious consequences to human health and the need for efficacious control measures.