Category Archives: Research

Bed bug science! There are 48 posts in this category.

The workmanlike chlorfenapyr

Remember BASF’s bed bug prevention pitch? The research is out and worth a close reading, not only because it is the anticipated report on the effectiveness of old dry residues of chlorfenapyr against bed bugs, a subject that sets off … Continue reading

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Girault, cont’d

So there was that hotel stay in 1907—the attack, to use his word. But two years earlier Girault had published a major article about bed bugs followed by an extensive critical bibliography, likely the entire literature of bed bugs until … Continue reading

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Bite sensitivity, new data

The results of the bed bug bite survey we heard so much about are reported in this new article, The Sensitivity Spectrum: Human Reactions to Bed Bug Bites (PCT February 2010, Michael F. Potter, Kenneth F. Haynes, Kevin Connelly, Michael … Continue reading

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Laundry and the motivating power of the bed bug web: Q&A with Richard Naylor

First, the study. Naylor, R. A., and C. J. Boase. 2010. Practical Solutions for Treating Laundry Infested With Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 103 (February): 136-139. doi:10.1603/EC09288. In keeping with our recent interest in the first line … Continue reading

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A tendency to synchronize feeding

Reinhardt, K., Isaac, D., & Naylor, R. (2010) Estimating the feeding rate of the bedbug Cimex lectularius in an infested room: an inexpensive method and a case study. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 24, 46-54. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2915.2009.00847.x [update 8/10: free article] The … Continue reading

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The active spread of bed bugs in buildings: the stakes for cities

A new article in the Journal of Economic Entomology should have important implications for policy making—if we are smart enough as a society to appreciate the stakes. Wang, C., K. Saltzmann, E. Chin, G. W. Bennett, T. Gibb. 2010. Characteristics … Continue reading

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Detecting bed bugs using bed bug monitors, Rutgers Cooperative Extension

Dr. Changlu Wang has produced a new fact sheet, FS1117 – Detecting Bed Bugs Using Bed Bug Monitors (free PDF download), detailing step-by-step instructions to make and use the dry ice trap developed by Rutgers University (see the ScienceNews story … Continue reading

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kdr pyrethroid resistance widespread in U.S. bed bug populations

The University of Kentucky announced yesterday that knockdown resistance (kdr-type) mutations, conferring resistance to synthetic pyrethroid pesticides, are widely prevalent in U.S. bed bug populations. The study, forthcoming1 in Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, finds that one or two … Continue reading

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Compensation

A new article has brought forth the memory of a particular passage, more aside than discussion, from back when research was written in the plainest language. Kenneth Mellanby once confined individual virgin female bed bugs with several males in glass … Continue reading

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Australian DE trial

It turns out that there is another diatomaceous earth trial. It is a report produced by Stephen Doggett and colleagues on behalf of diatomaceous earth manufacturer Mount Sylvia Diatomite. Stephen L. Doggett, Merilyn J. Geary, David Lilly, Richard C. Russell. … Continue reading

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