Bed bug aggregation on dirty laundry: a mechanism for passive dispersal

Abstract

Bed bugs have shown a recent and rapid global expansion that has been suggested to be caused by cheap air travel. How a small, flightless and anachoretic insect that hides within its host’s sleeping area manages to travel long distances is not yet clear. Bed bugs are attracted to the odour of sleeping humans and we suggest that soiled clothing may present a similarly attractive cue, allowing bed bugs to ‘hitch-hike’ around the world after aggregating in the laundry bags of travellers. We show that (1) soiled clothing is significantly more attractive than clean clothing to active bed bugs moving within a bedroom sized arena and (2) elevation of CO2 to a level that simulates human occupancy in the same arena appears to initiate search behaviour rather than direct it. Our results show, for the first time, how leaving worn clothing exposed in sleeping areas when travelling can be exploited by bed bugs to facilitate passive dispersal.

Synergistic Toxicity Interactions between Plant Essential Oil Components against the Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius L.)

“…that has resurged globally in the last two decades as a pest of public health and economic importance [1]. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the resurgence of common bed bugs (hereafter referred to as bed bugs), including increased travel by the public and the evolution of pyrethroid insecticide resistance in field populations [2][3][4][5][6]. More recently, some bed bug populations were shown to be highly resistant to various neonicotinoids [7] and possess reduced susceptibility to pyrrole compounds (i.e., chlorfenapyr) [5].…”

Temperature stress deteriorates bed bug (Cimex lectularius) populations through decreased survival, fecundity and offspring success

“…With their current global distribution, human dwellings may even be considered their main “natural” habitat, and bed bugs are a true anthropochore. Food through human blood meals is available in sufficient quantities, cryptic nocturnal behaviour enables undisturbed feeding [ 1 , 2 ], aggregation in cracks and crevices offers suitable microhabitat [ 3 ], hitchhiking on human belongings [ 4 , 5 ] or walking [ 6 , 7 ] secures efficient dispersal, natural enemies [ 8 – 10 ] are mostly absent, the high reproductive rate promotes fast population growth [ 11 , 12 ] and resistance counters our attempts to use pesticides for elimination [ 13 – 17 ]. Many of these success factors are difficult to manipulate in bed bug control, but the abiotic environment in which bed bugs thrive is disposed to alterations.…”

Infestation Pattern and Population Dynamics of the Tropical Bed Bug, Cimex hemipterus (F.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Based on Novel Microsatellites and mtDNA Markers

“…A study by Hentley et al [64] mentioned that bed bugs were two times more likely to aggregate on bags containing soiled clothes compared to bags containing clean clothes in the absence of a human host.…”