Pfiester, Margie; Koehler, Philip G.; Pereira, Roberto M. (2009) Effect of Population Structure and Size on Aggregation Behavior of Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Journal of Medical Entomology 46(5):1015-1020. doi: 10.1603/033.046.0506 (free download available)
A couple of interesting things: the sex ratio in small groups of bed bugs may be dynamic even as the sex ratio in the population remains stable, and the authors point out that this is a new observation not considered in the literature to date, where 1:1 sex ratios in bed bug populations have been observed in field conditions.
As population density increases, the authors found that the percentage of adult females grouped with other females also increases. This may be a newly observed mating resistance strategy.
We have heard for some time that, at some point, adult females wander off alone.
In every experiment we performed, females were found alone most often. Unlike bed bug nymphs and males, females do not seem to produce any contact aggregation pheromone (Siljander et al. 2007), contrary to previous reports (Usinger 1966, Levinson and Bar Ilan 1971), and only respond to airborne aggregation pheromone before mating (Siljander et al. 2008). By not producing or responding to aggregation pheromone, females can leave aggregations without attracting other bed bugs in the population. Thus, females can expand the population range, establish new infestation sites, and exploit new resources, whereas other bed bugs continue to use resources available at original infestation sites. The idea that the spread of bed bug infestations partially depends on bed bugs actively seeking new refugia, along with observations that female bed bugs are found away from aggregations most often in field populations (Siljander et al. 2008) supports the findings from our experiments.
The discussion in this article is rich and wonderfully readable; I suggest you take a look yourself.
Can I just note the unintentional poignancy of bed bug research?
If females are rare, recently fed males may abandon aggregations in search of females.
These pages may be of related interest:
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interesting study, I am always amazed at the persistence of these researchers, if I had to make these observations I would end up gouging out my eyes from tediousness and boredom. when i read this quote,” in which females form groups to avoid courting males,” I thought OMG ! my wife exhibits bedbug behavior.
I am not going there! On your own with that one, jc.
Can I tell you how much fun I had writing this article? The entire time I was just like….wow I know people like this! Giving presentations on this was the best part because the audience always relates it to men and women in general
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Oh no, bed bugs are way more interesting than they ought to be, that’s for sure.
It’s really nice that you stopped by. Thank you for your work with bed bugs.