scholarly journals Evaluation of a Non-Chemical Compared to a Non-Chemical Plus Silica Gel Approach to Bed Bug Management

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Salehe Abbar ◽  
Changlu Wang ◽  
Richard Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Silica Gel ◽  
Chemical Treatment ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Dust Treatment ◽  
Residual Control ◽  
Insecticide Sprays ◽  
Bug Management

Bed bug resistance to commonly used pesticide sprays has led to exploring new pesticides and other strategies for bed bug management. Non-chemical methods are effective in bed bug management; however, they do not provide residual protection. Compared to insecticide sprays, dust formulations are considered to provide longer residual control. We evaluated two bed bug management programs in apartment buildings. A building-wide inspection was initially conducted to identify bed bug infested apartments. Selected apartments were divided into two treatment groups: non-chemical plus silica gel dust treatment (10 apartments) and non-chemical treatment (11 apartments). After initial treatment, apartments were re-visited monthly for up to 6 months. During each visit, the total bed bug count per apartment was obtained by examining interceptor traps placed in the apartments and conducting a visual inspection. Mean bed bug count was reduced by 99% and 89% in non-chemical plus silica gel dust and non-chemical treatment, respectively. Non-chemical plus silica gel dust treatment caused significantly higher bed bug count reduction than the non-chemical treatment at 6 months. Bed bugs were eradicated from 40% and 36% of apartments treated with non-chemical plus silica gel dust treatment and non-chemical treatment, respectively.

scholarly journals Widespread Mutations in Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Gene of Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Populations in Paris

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 407
Author(s):  
Mohammad Akhoundi ◽  
Dahlia Chebbah ◽  
Denis Sereno ◽  
Anthony Marteau ◽  
Julie Jan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Point ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Single Point Mutation ◽  
Homozygous Mutation ◽  
Knockdown Resistance ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Channel Gene ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
The Status

Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus, are common blood-sucking ectoparasites of humans with a large geographical distribution, worldwide. In France, little is known about the status of bed bugs’ infestation and their resistance to insecticides, particularly, pyrethroids. Here, we aimed to find mutations in the kdr gene, known to be involved in resistance to insecticides. We gathered bed bugs from various infested locations, including 17 private houses, 12 HLM building complex, 29 apartments, 2 EHPAD, and 2 immigrants’ residences. A total of 1211 bed bugs were collected and morphologically identified as C. lectularius. Two fragments of the kdr gene, encompassing codons V419L and L925I, were successfully amplified for 156 specimens. We recorded sense mutation in the first amplified fragment (kdr1) in 89 out of 156 (57%) samples, in which in 61 out of 89 (68.5%) sequences, a change of valine (V) into leucine (L) V419L was observed. Within the second fragment (kdr2), a homozygous mutation was recorded in 73 out of 156 (46.7%) specimens at the codon 925. At this position, 43 out of 73 (58.9%) specimens had a sense mutation leading to the replacement of leucine (L) by isoleucine (I). Among 162 mutant sequences analyzed (89 for the kdr1 fragment and 73 for the kdr2 one), we detected single point mutation in 26.6%, while 73.4% presented the mutation in both kdr1 and kdr2 fragments. All modifications recorded in bed bug populations of Paris are described to be involved in the knockdown resistance (kdr) against pyrethroids.

The Behavioral Response to Heat in the Common Bed Bug,Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Berry
Keyword(s):  
Petri Dish ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
Video Images ◽  
Spherical Ball ◽  
The Common ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts

AbstractThe bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., is a common ectoparasite found to live among its vertebrate hosts. Antennal segments in bugs are critical for sensing multiple cues in the environment for survival. To determine whether the thermo receptors of bed bugs are located on their antennae; innovative bioassays were created to observe the choice between heated and unheated stimuli and to characterize the response of bugs to a heat source. Additionally, the effect of complete antenectomized segments on heat detection were evaluated. Heat, carbon dioxide, and moisture are cues that are found to activate bed bug behavior; a temperature at 38°C was used to assess the direction/degree at which the insect reacts to the change in distance from said stimulus. Using a lightweight spherical ball suspended by air through a vacuum tube, bed bugs and other insects are able to move in 360° while on a stationary point. Noldus EthoVision XT was used to capture video images and to track the bed bugs during 5-min bioassays. A bioassay was created using four Petri dish arenas to observe bed bug attraction to heat based on antennae segments at 40°C. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of heat on complete antenectomized segments of the antennae. The results in this experiment suggest that bed bugs detect and are attracted to heat modulated by nutritional status. Learning the involvement of antennae segments in heat detection will help identify the location and role of thermoreceptors for bed bug host interaction.

COMPARAISON DE DIVERSES METHODES DE CASTRATION ET DE STERILISATION DES AGNEAUX: I. INFLUENCE DE CES METHODES SUR LA CROISSANCE, L’EFFICIENCE ALIMENTAIRE, LE RENDEMENT A L’AHATTAGE ET LA RENTABILITE

1971 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. BAILLARGEON ◽  
J. P. LEMAY ◽  
W. B. HOLTMANN ◽  
L. A. CHARETTE
Keyword(s):  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Intramuscular Injection ◽  
Cadmium Chloride ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Dressing Percentage ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Daily Gain

An experiment was conducted to compare various physical and chemical methods of castration of lambs at 15 and 60 days of age. Their effects on body growth, feed efficiency, dressing percentage and profitability were studied. At birth 100 lambs were divided among the 16 different treatments according to sex and the following breeding groups: Suffolk, North Country Cheviot, two-breed cross and three-breed cross. The different methods of castration were: complete removal of the testicles, Burdizzo, elastrator and partial castration. The sterilization methods consisted of intramuscular, intratesticular and intraveinous injection of cadmium chloride. All lambs were weaned at 30 days of age and placed in individual pens. They were subjected to similar environmental conditions and shipped to slaughter at approximately 45 kg body weight. Significant differences were observed among breeds, sexes and the various castration methods for daily gain, feed efficiency, days required to reach market and profitability. Age at castration did not have any important effect ort the variables measured. Superior gains, feed efficiency and profitability were observed for the partially castrated group, for the lambs that received an intramuscular injection of cadmium chloride and for the non-castrated males. All treatment groups involving males were superior to the females for the characters studied except for dressing percentage.

scholarly journals Bed bugs: The move to humans as hosts

FACETS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Talbot ◽  
Nusha Keyghobadi ◽  
Brock Fenton
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Insectivorous Birds ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Ecological Success ◽  
The Common

Cimicid insects, bed bugs and their allies, include about 100 species of blood-feeding ectoparasites. Among them, a few have become widespread and abundant pests of humans. Cimicids vary in their degree of specialization to hosts. Whereas most species specialize on insectivorous birds or bats, the common bed bug can feed on a range of distantly related host species, such as bats, humans, and chickens. We suggest that association with humans and generalism in bed bugs led to fundamentally different living conditions that fostered rapid growth and expansion of their populations. We propose that the evolutionary and ecological success of common bed bugs reflected exploitation of large homeothermic hosts (humans) that sheltered in buildings. This was a departure from congeners whose hosts are much smaller and often heterothermic. We argue that interesting insights into the biology of pest species may be obtained using an integrated view of their ecology and evolution.

Knowledge, Risk Factors and Practices about Bed bugs in Rural Eastern Tanzania

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladslaus Mnyone ◽  
Osyth Silvester Massawe
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Control Measure ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Professional Guidance

Abstract Background: Evidence-based strategies are needed to counter the increasing problem of bed bug infestations. We assessed community knowledge, risk factors and practices on bed bugs because they are essential for enhancing community commitment to control efforts. Methods: We conducted a descriptive social survey using structured questionnaire and direct observations in selected villages of Morogoro Rural District, Eastern Tanzania. Results: Total of 260 respondents participated, 53.08% (138/260) females and 46.92% (122/260) males; and majority had primary education (68%, 177/260). Majority were aware of at least one control measure against bed bugs including chemical insecticides, washing bedclothes and sunlight. Insecticides were considered the most powerful measure (Mkuyuni 81.82%, 27/33; Mfumbwe 44.82%, 26/58; Changa 34.91%, 59/169). Majority were able to identify bed bugs (Mfumbwe 87.93%, 51/58, Changa 63.31%, 107/169; Mkuyuni 51.52%, 17/33). Over 95% of respondents were aware that bed bugs reproduce by laying eggs and could identify them. Considerable proportion was aware of certain effects of bed bugs (Mkuyuni 75.76%, 25/33; Changa 53.87%, 91/169; Mfumbwe 46.55%, 27/58). Over 60% (156/260) of households presented several risk features and main ones were cracks on walls (85.75%, 223/260) and floors (92.50%, 241/260), not sleeping on beds (88.09%, 229/260), dusty floors (92.05%, 239/260) and hiding spaces on beds (71.25%, 185/260). Households controlling bed bugs ranged from 41.38% to 45.45%, with up to 100% of those using insecticides. Majority indicated controlling other household pests (Changa 69.23%, 117/169; Mfumbwe 63.79%, 37/58; Mkuyuni 63.64%, 21/33) mainly through insecticides and improved sanitation. The frequency of applying insecticides varied significantly; up to 67.52% of respondents reported periods >1 and ≤4 years. Conclusions: Majority of households in the study communities are in high risk of bed bug infestation. Over 60% of them presented multiple risk features and main ones were cracks on walls/floors, dusty floors, not sleeping on beds, and hiding spaces on beds. Insecticides were the most commonly known/used control measure. Insecticide applications were done without professional guidance and on irregular frequencies thus exposing study communities to high risk of insecticide resistance.

scholarly journals Dynamics of bed bug infestations and control under disclosure policies

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (13) ◽  
pp. 6473-6481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherrie Xie ◽  
Alison L. Hill ◽  
Chris R. Rehmann ◽  
Michael Z. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Highly Nonlinear ◽  
Public Health Practitioners ◽  
And Control

Bed bugs have reemerged in the United States and worldwide over recent decades, presenting a major challenge to both public health practitioners and housing authorities. A number of municipalities have proposed or initiated policies to stem the bed bug epidemic, but little guidance is available to evaluate them. One contentious policy is disclosure, whereby landlords are obligated to notify potential tenants of current or prior bed bug infestations. Aimed to protect tenants from leasing an infested rental unit, disclosure also creates a kind of quarantine, partially and temporarily removing infested units from the market. Here, we develop a mathematical model for the spread of bed bugs in a generalized rental market, calibrate it to parameters of bed bug dispersion and housing turnover, and use it to evaluate the costs and benefits of disclosure policies to landlords. We find disclosure to be an effective control policy to curb infestation prevalence. Over the short term (within 5 years), disclosure policies result in modest increases in cost to landlords, while over the long term, reductions of infestation prevalence lead, on average, to savings. These results are insensitive to different assumptions regarding the prevalence of infestation, rate of introduction of bed bugs from other municipalities, and the strength of the quarantine effect created by disclosure. Beyond its application to bed bugs, our model offers a framework to evaluate policies to curtail the spread of household pests and is appropriate for systems in which spillover effects result in highly nonlinear cost–benefit relationships.

scholarly journals Lack of influence by endosymbiont Wolbachia on virus titer in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Fisher ◽  
Jay F. Levine ◽  
James S. Guy ◽  
Hiroyuki Mochizuki ◽  
Matthew Breen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Virus Titer ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Post Feeding ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Common

Abstract Background The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is an obligatory blood-feeding ectoparasite that requires a blood meal to molt and produce eggs. Their frequent biting to obtain blood meals and intimate association with humans increase the potential for disease transmission. However, despite more than 100 years of inquiry into bed bugs as potential disease vectors, they still have not been conclusively linked to any pathogen or disease. This ecological niche is extraordinarily rare, given that nearly every other blood-feeding arthropod is associated with some type of human or zoonotic disease. Bed bugs rely on the bacteria Wolbachia as an obligate endosymbiont to biosynthesize B vitamins, since they acquire a nutritionally deficient diet, but it is unknown if Wolbachia confers additional benefits to its bed bug host. In some insects, Wolbachia induces resistance to viruses such as Dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile, Drosophila C and Zika, and primes the insect immune system in other blood-feeding insects. Wolbachia might have evolved a similar role in its mutualistic association with the bed bug. In this study, we evaluated the influence of Wolbachia on virus replication within C. lectularius. Methods We used feline calicivirus as a model pathogen. We fed 40 bed bugs from an established line of Wolbachia-cured and a line of Wolbachia-positive C. lectularius a virus-laden blood meal, and quantified the amount of virus over five time intervals post-feeding. The antibiotic rifampicin was used to cure bed bugs of Wolbachia. Results There was a significant effect of time post-feeding, as the amount of virus declined by ~90% over 10 days in both groups, but no significant difference in virus titer was observed between the Wolbachia-positive and Wolbachia-cured groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that other mechanisms are involved in virus suppression within bed bugs, independent of the influence of Wolbachia, and our conclusions underscore the need for future research.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Susceptibility to λ-Cyhalothrin, Malathion, and Diazinon in Northeastern Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariba Berenji ◽  
Ali Moshaverinia ◽  
Abbas Jadidoleslami ◽  
Aliakbar Shamsian ◽  
Stephen L Doggett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Filter Paper ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Response Data ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Mashhad City ◽  
The Common ◽  
Student Residence ◽  
Paper Method

Abstract The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Linnaeus 1758), is a nocturnal blood-sucking ectoparasite of humans that is highly prevalent in the northeast of Iran. In recent years, the efficacy of those insecticides that have been frequently used to control bed bugs in Iran has not been studied. Due to frequent complaints about bed bug treatment failures in Mashhad city (northeastern Iran), this study assessed the susceptibility of C. lectularius collected from a student residence hall to Diazinon, Malathion, and λ-cyhalothrin. The desired concentrations of each insecticide were prepared in acetone, and bioassays were performed using insecticide-impregnated filter paper method. The concentration–response data were subjected to POLO-PC software and data were analyzed by the log-probit procedure. The LC50 values of Diazinon and λ-cyhalothrin for examined bed bugs were 1,337.40 and 2,022.36 ppm, respectively. Malathion at the highest concentration (10,000 ppm) did not exhibit any toxicity to examined C. lectularius. Comparing these results to the same previous studies showed that susceptibility of examined bed bugs to these insecticides has been highly decreased. This study revealed an occurrence of insecticide resistance in bed bug populations in northeastern Iran. It also suggests that Malathion, Diazinon, and λ-cyhalothrin are ineffective against bed bugs in this region.

Effects of Temperature and Humidity on the Metabolism of the Fasting Bed-Bug (Cimex lectularius), Hemiptera

Parasitology ◽  
1932 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Mellanby
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Moist Air ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Dry Air ◽  
Loss Of Weight ◽  
Cent Relative Humidity ◽  
Effects Of Temperature ◽  
Rate Of Evaporation ◽  
Food Reserves

A method is described by which individual bed-bugs, weighing only 5 mg., can be accurately weighed, and their rate of loss of weight measured during starvation.Fasting bed-bugs were kept for various periods at five temperatures, ranging from 8° C. to 37° C., and at four humidities—0, 30, 60 and 90 per cent. relative humidity—at each temperature. Analysis after the experiments showed that the same amounts of food reserves were used up at each humidity for one temperature, and, as more water was evaporated from those kept in dry air than from those in moist, the proportion of dry matter rose most rapidly in dry air. Protein was the main food reserve used.Although the rate of loss of water was greatest in dry air, the rate of loss was relatively greater in moist air when the saturation deficiencies are compared. It appears that the insects conserve their water in dry air, but their surface area being so great in comparison with their volume, they cannot prevent all evaporation. This evaporation is at a rate nearly proportional to the saturation deficiency of the air.In moist air water appears to be evaporated freely. It is suggested that the spiracles are kept closed more in dry air and less in moist, which accounts for the fact that the rate of evaporation is proportionately greatest in moist air.A comparison is made between the results obtained with Cimex and Rhodnius.

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