Dr. Susan Jones in depth discussion on bed bugs Acknowledgments: Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force Joint Bed Bug Task Force Camille Jones Greg Kesterman Courtney Darrington Josh Bryant Nina Bogart Kara Baker

1. Bed Bug Biology/Behavior
and
Research Update
Dr. Susan C. Jones
Professor of Entomology

2. ©Graphicmaps.com

3. Cimex lectularius: the bed bug
(Hemiptera: Cimicidae)
 Only feed on blood
 Prefer humans
 Alternate hosts—dogs,
cats, rats, birds, etc.
 Typically feed at night
 Cause significant
economic, physical, &
mental distress
bedbugfoundation.org
Unfed adults:
~1/4 to 3/8 inch
long
0.2 inch

4. The Human Factor

5. • Denial of a bed bug problem/stigma
• Incorrect identification
• Ignorance of bed bugs and
management strategies
• Do-it-yourself mentality
• Money
• Clutter
• Mental health problems
• Physical incapacity
• Etc.
Some of the challenges due to
landlords/management and/or residents:

6. bedbugfoundation.org
Unfed adults:
~1/4 to 3/8 inch
long
0.2 inch
Total developmental
time (egg to adult):
21 days @ 86F
120 days @ 65F
The Bed Bug Factor

7. • Slender profile; hide in many sites from floor
to ceiling
• Strong tendency to disperse
– Hitchhiking
– Walking
• Can feed on multiple warm-blooded animals
• Bites cause variable reactions in humans
• Can survive starvation for long periods
• Insecticide resistance
• Etc.
Some of the challenges due to
bed bugs:

8. BED BUG HABITS
• Cannot fly
• Can walk very fast
• Typically hide during the day in dark,
protected sites (esp. cracks & crevices)
• Prefer fabric, wood, and paper surfaces
• Can cling tightly to surfaces

9. In Electrical Outlets
Behind A Hanging Picture
Some bed bug hiding places
In Carpeting
In Furniture

10. BED BUG HIDING PLACES
 Mattress, box springs
 Bed frame
 Furniture
 Carpeting
 Cracks and crevices
 Carpet tack strips
 Baseboards
 Window frames, door frames
 Electric outlets, switch plates
 Wall hangings, pictures
 Drapery pleats, window blinds
 Smoke detectors
 Ceiling moldings
 etc.

11. Reasons why residents
should not dispose of
furniture, mattresses, etc.:
• Bed bugs will fall off the furniture as it is
being moved, hence spreading the problem.
• Infested furniture usually can be treated.
• Bed bugs can quickly infest replacement
furniture.
• Items placed in dumpsters often are picked
up and reused, thereby spreading bed bugs
to other households.

12. How do bed bugs travel?
• Walking
• from an infested room to new
territory
• from one apartment to another
via pipes, electrical wires,
cables, …
• down a hallway after dropping
off an item
• Hitchhiking

13. In multi-family housing, bed bugs readily
spread to units that are adjacent, below,
and above the infested unit.

14. Bed bugs are very
good hitchhikers!
• luggage
• furniture
• bedding
• backpacks, purses, briefcases
• clothing
• …
Bed bugs can be moved from one place
to another by hiding in:

15. --Bed Bug Hitchhikers—
in walker & wheelchair
Photos courtesy of General Pest Control Co.

16. Bed Bug Hitchhikers in Luggage

17. --Bed Bug Hitchhikers—
in shoe tread

18. --Bed Bug Hitchhikers—
on shoes

19. http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/2/2/232
Test conditions:
79-80 °F (~26.5 °C)
69% RH

20. • Often closely associated with
hosts’ sleeping or resting sites
(hide in many places)
• Locate their host using cues
such as carbon dioxide, heat,
odor
• Typically feed at night
Bed Bug Feeding Habits

21. Sharp beak-like mouthparts
penetrate the skin:
The Mechanics of Biting
Photo: Harvard Univ.
mandibles
and maxillae
(at tip of
fascicle)
(very
flexible;
thrust
about into
tissues
until a
suitable
blood
vessel is
reached)
stylet
fascicle
(driven into
skin to anchor
the stylet
fascicle)
labium
bed-bugs.com

22. Health Effects from Bed Bugs
• Skin reactions (7 of 10 people on avg.)
• Redness
• Welts
• Itching
• Secondary bacterial infections
• Anemia
• Asthma
• Anaphylactic shock
• Psychological effects
• Sleeplessness
• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Insecticide exposure
• …

23. August 2010
Bed bugs are a
pest of significant
public health
importance!
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/Publications/Bed_Bugs_CDC-EPA_Statement.htm
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/bedbugs/
CDC & EPA
Joint
Statement

24. urticariaatypical bullous lesions
common distribution of skin lesions
Clinical Manifestations of Bed Bug Bites (Cimicosis)
• Typically on exposed skin
• Often in groups or rows

26. Permanent scars from
bed bug bites

27. wasp

28. Diagnosis of Bed Bug Bites
• Diagnosis of a bed bug bite is speculative.
• Confirmation is based on bed bug evidence.
• Resemble bites from other insects/arthropods
• Typically no red puncture spot at the center
(such as with fleas and black flies)
• Rarely occur on the palms or soles
(such as with scabies mites)
• …
If you wake up with itchy, red welts that
weren’t there when you went to bed,
perhaps its bed bugs.

29. 2009. JAMA 301(13): 1358-1366.
“There are few data to support bed
bugs as vectors for transmission of
human disease agents. …
transmission of a human disease is
yet to be firmly established.”

30. Delaunay et al. 2011
 Carry 40+ human pathogens
(Goddard and deShazo 2009)
 Recent studies have targeted
specific pathogens
• Hepatitis B, C (Blow et al. 2001,
Silverman et al. 2001)
• HIV (Webb et al. 1989)
• Bacteria (Lowe and Romney 2011,
Cockburn et al. 2013, Leuimi et al.
2015)
• Trypanosoma cruzi (Blakely et al.
2014, Salazar et al. 2015)
Role in Disease

31. Known Disease-Transmitting
Hemipterans (True Bugs)
Reduviidae: triatomine bugs
(kissing bugs)
 Transmit Chagas disease via feces
 Defecate on host while feeding
 Transmission occurs when feces are
rubbed into bite wound or mucous
membrane (cdc.gov)
biologyacademie.blogspot.com

32.  Hemotek artificial feeder
 Warms blood in
reservoirs
 Parafilm membrane
 Defibrinated rabbit
blood
 Rattus norvegicus (naked
rats)
 Wire mesh tubes w/
snap cap ends
Materials & Methods
— OSU Research—
Courtney L. Darrington
MS, OSU Department of Entomology (2015)

33.  Bed bugs defecate in close proximity to their feeding site
(avg. 1-2.5 cm [0.4-1 inch])
 Artificial feeder
 Live host (naked rats)
 Bed bugs defecate soon after feeding (5-120 sec)
 Repletion status greatly influences whether bugs defecate
 Defecation Index (DI) of 2.57 for adult bed bugs suggests a
high potential to infect a host  DI of 3.08 in females
supports suggestion in triatomines that females are the most
epidemiologically important stage
— OSU Research—
Courtney L. Darrington
MS, OSU Department of Entomology (2015)

34. (2015). 9(5): e0003789. doi:10.1371

35. The bacterium was
detected in the feces and
bodies (digestive tract) of
bed bugs at the 3rd day
post-infection, and it
persisted for ~2.5 weeks.
Bed Bugs and
Trench Fever

37. Imagine Sleeping In These Conditions

38. Imagine Sleeping In These Conditions

39. Columbus, OH 4/26/11
Pesticide exposure due to misuse
Columbus, OH 6/28/12

40. Did you check for signs
of bed bugs in your
hotel/motel room when
you last traveled?

41. BED BUG PREVENTION
FOR TRAVELERS
Make it STANDARD PRACTICE to
check for bed bugs in hotel/motel
rooms!• Pull back the bedding and look for black fecal
spots on mattress & box springs (especially
seams)
• Carefully examine the underside of the bed skirt
• Look for bb signs along bed frame (especially
head board)
• Open nightstand drawers and look for bb signs
along inner and outer edges
• Look for bb signs along baseboards
DON’T STAY IN A ROOM THAT HAS BB SIGNS

42. BED BUG PREVENTION
FOR TRAVELERS
• Keep clothes in your zipped suitcase
• Don’t keep clothes in hotel chest-of-drawers
• OK to hang clothes in closet
• Don’t store your suitcase on the bed,
floor, or upholstered furniture
• Keep your suitcase on the luggage rack
(after first inspecting it for bb signs)
Reduce the chances of getting bed bugs
from hotel/motel rooms!
• The bathroom (tub) is the best place to
store your items!

43. Sticky Traps
Bed Bug Detector Trap
--Passive Monitoring Devices--

44. --Passive Monitoring Devices--
Bed Bug Interceptors
• Positioned under furniture legs
• Furniture must be kept in use—bugs are
attracted to host’s CO2
• Pitfall trap—bed bugs climb in and cannot
escape*
– *Inner walls of ClimbUps must be kept
lubricated with talcum powder or bugs can
escape
• Eliminate alternative ways for bugs to
access furniture (don’t let bugs bypass
interceptors)
• Keep furniture several inches away from walls
• Don’t let bed linens, dust ruffle, & bedding
contact the floor or walls
ClimbUp® Interceptor
LightsOut® Interceptor
bed
leg

45. FMC Verifi™ Bed Bug Detector
http://www.fmcprosolutions.com/BedBugs/PropertyManager/Home.aspx
A- CO2 booster pack
B- lures (pheromone +
kairomone)
C- pitfall trap area
D- harborage area
E- self-adhesive sticker
--Active Monitoring Device--
Front view (with cut away
revealing interior components)
Rear view
No longer manufactured

46. Rutgers University Field Study
August 2011
‘Detection
Tools and
Techniques’
By: Changlu
Wang and
Richard
Cooper
Canine team performance
(7 firms; 24 apts.)
Average Range
Inspection time 150 minutes 100-250 min.
Cost $750 $500-1,000
Detection rate 43% 11-83%
False positive rate (signaling
bed bugs that weren’t there)
0-38%
 Much variability among canine
detection firms.
 Can be a useful tool in large-scale
inspections.

47. The liners consist of finely
woven polyester fabric
impregnated with 1.64%
permethrin. The liners are kept
in place on mattresses and
box springs beneath bedding.

48. Bed bugs were not repelled
from ActiveGuard™ liners
TreatmentControlB B AG B
B = Blank fabric
AG = ActiveGuard fabric
— OSU Research—

49. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mean(+/-SE)percentmoribund/dead
Days
EPM
Marcia
Earl
Harlan
—OSU Research—
Bed Bug Contact Bioassay
Contact with ActiveGuard fabric
caused bed bugs from susceptible
and moderately resistant
populations to die within ~1 day; a
highly resistant population (Marcia)
began dying after ~4 days exposure.

50. —OSU Research Results—
Bed Bug Feeding Bioassay
ActiveGuard
Proportion (mean ± SEM) of feeding attempts and successful
feedings by adult female bed bugs following brief exposure to
permethrin-impregnated or untreated fabric:
ActiveGuard
Exposure to ActiveGuard
fabric for 1 or 10 min
significantly decreased the
likelihood that a bed bug
attempted to feed.
Exposure to ActiveGuard
fabric for 10 min significantly
decreased the likelihood
that a bed bug
successfully fed.
Statistically similar responses among 5 bed bug populations ranging from
highly susceptible to extremely resistant

51. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
(IPM) :
Correctly identify the pest
+
Conduct a thorough inspection
+
Use sanitation measures
+
Use non-chemical measures
+
Apply insecticides to targeted sites

52. Some Basics of Bed Bug
Management Using
Insecticides
• There is no single “magic bullet”.
• Bed bug control typically takes
several treatments.
• It is important to use several different
formulations, and often, several
different insecticides.
• A residual insecticide is necessary.
• Don’t keep using the same
insecticide (rotate insecticide use)

53. March 14, 2013
http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130314/srep01456/pdf/srep01456.pdf
Resistance genes were very active in
the bed bug exoskeleton (skin).

54. Pyrethroid Resistance Categorization
of Bed Bug Populations
— OSU Research—
Highly pyrethroid resistant bed bugs do not show adverse
effects, even when exposed to very high concentrations of
dry deposits of technical deltamethrin.

55. Active Ingredient
(insecticide class)
Product Name(s)
Imidacloprid + ß-cyfluthrin
(neonicotinoid + pyrethroid)
Temprid®
SC
Chlorfenapyr
(halogenated pyrrole)
Phantom®
SC
Phantom®
PI
Acetamiprid + bifenthrin
(neonicotinoid + pyrethroid)
Transport®
Mikron
Transport®
GHP
Thiamethoxam + λ-cyhalothrin
(neonicotinoid + pyrethroid)
Tandem®
Dinotefuran + diatomaceous earth
(neonicotinoid + silica dioxide)
Prescription Treatment
Alpine®
Dust
Alpine®
PI
Amorphous silica gel CimeXa™
Neem seed oil
(azadirachtin)
Cirkil™ CX
Cirkil™ RTU
Some pyrethroid alternatives for use against bed bugs:

56. — OSU Research —
Effectiveness of combination insecticides against bed bugs

57. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Initial 30 m 1 h 2 h 4 h 8 h
Meanpercentmoribund/dead
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Initial 30 m 1 h 2 h 4 h 8 h
Meanpercentmoribund/dead
̶ Results ̶
Direct Spray
Pyrethroid susceptible bugs
Rapid bed bug
mortality is achieved
through directly
spraying bed bugs.
Pyrethroid resistant bugs
Even with highly resistant bed bugs the bugs quickly died
after being sprayed with any of the 3 insecticides. Evidence
of contact toxicity.

58. PlywoodFabric Efficacy of Temprid SC Residues on Plywood and
Fabric Aged for 6 mo (182 d)
highly
resistant
moderately
resistant
susceptible
Brief exposure (hours) to a residual insecticide caused rapid death of
pyrethroid-susceptible bed bugs, but not highly pyrethroid-resistant bed bugs.
Resistant bugs had to spend days in direct contact with the dry residues.
Temprid had long lasting residual.

59. Words of caution regarding
over-the-counter ‘natural
products’ for bed bug control:
• Exempt from Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) registration
• EPA requires no efficacy data
• Claims often based on “satisfied
customers”—be sure to ask for their
research data and evaluate it carefully
• Botanical (plant based) products often
have a strong odor
• Botanical products often have limited, if
any, residual activity

60. 25(b) Exempt Minimum Risk
Natural Products
Condition 4: The label cannot include any
false or misleading statements, and claims
that minimum risk pesticides protect human
or public health are prohibited.
Must meet five conditions, including:

62. Rutgers Univ. 2014 Study: Natural Pesticides

63. Rutgers Univ. 2014 Study: Natural Pesticides

64. Rutgers Univ. 2014 Study: Natural Pesticides

65. 25(b) Natural Products (exempt from EPA registration)
FTC takes action
The FTC complaint charges that the Cedarcide defendants make:
• false claims that scientific studies prove Best Yet! is effective at
stopping and preventing bed bug infestations, and that it is more
effective than synthetic pesticides at doing so;
• a false claim that the Environmental Protection Agency has warned
consumers to avoid all synthetic pesticides for treating bed bug
infestations;
• …
• false claims that Best Yet! was invented for the U.S. Army at the
request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that the USDA has
acknowledged the product as the number one choice of bio-based
pesticides
The FTC complaint charges that the RMB Group defendants make
unsupported claims that Rest Easy kills and repels bed bugs, and that a
consumer can create a barrier against them by spraying the product
around a bed.
http://ftc.gov/opa/2012/09/cedarcidermb.shtm

66. Acknowledgments
• Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force
• Joint Bed Bug Task Force
• Camille Jones
• Greg Kesterman
• Courtney Darrington
• Josh Bryant
• Nina Bogart
• Kara Baker

67. Thank You!
Sleep tight,
and don’t let the …
… well, you know the rest