New Haven Independent

Many common pesticides sold to kill bed bugs are not sufficiently effective to eradicate infestations, according to research presented at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s “Bed Bug Forum” Thursday.

This finding was one of several discouraging facts disseminated at the forum, which was attended by about 200 exterminators, public housing officials, and others interested in Cimex lectularius.

Bed bugs are consumate hitchhikers, and masters of concealment. They leave behind plenty of telltale signs. But getting all of them out of the home, apartment or hotel is a difficult task.

New Haven is practically awash in bed bugs, because the city’s housing is old, and people are hesitant to reveal that they are living with the loathsome creatures, said Gale E. Ridge (pictured), entomologist and scientist at the station.

Older homes, she explained, have more cracks and crevices in which to hide, as well as more ornate woodwork, another aid in concealment.

Many New Haveners buy insecticides over the Internet, then use them incorrectly or fail to take additional essential measures, according to Ridge. They take the Internet route because they are embarrassed, she said.

These do-it-your-selfers may also be exposing their families to high levels of toxic chemicals. Ultimately, applying partially effective insecticide is a fast way of creating generations of resistant bed bugs, Ridge said.

“Bed bugs in New Haven are pretty bad,” said Richard McKinney, owner of Epic Pest in New Haven.

“No one can afford extermination,” McKinney said. (He’s pictured using a microscope to get a closer look at bed bugs and eggs.)

If there is any good news, it’s that although C. lectularious can carry around 20 human pathogens, including HIV, they apparently are incapable of transmitting the infectious agents to humans, Ridge said.

What they do leave is lines of welts, blisters, or other kinds of lesions, brought forth by the sensitized immune system. Heavy infestations can leave white sheets and mattress covers rust-covered collages of digested blood, and other fecal matter.

Lines are formed because the bugs follow folds in the sheets.

So who are these nasty little visitors?

Adult bed bugs, at least the ones around here (there are 74 species worldwide), are flat, oval and a little less than one-quarter of an inch long.They apparently transferred their taste from rat and bat to human blood at around 35,000 to 20,000 years ago.

Humans started to live in Afghanistan caves, with bats, and one thing led to another.
Romans at approximately 45 AD used bed bugs to treat snake bites and for stomach problems. Take seven bed bugs, and call me tomorrow.

Bed bugs go through five stages. They require a blood meal for each molt, said scientist John F. Anderson, former director of the agricultural station.

Bed bugs need about three to eight minutes to suck up all the blood they need. Other than blood, they can absorb humidity from the air, and adult bed bug females can go almost 300 days without a drink.

Each stage is similar to the next, only larger. They communicate through about 14 pheromones, and are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat.

Bed bugs mate through what entomologists delicately call “traumatic insemination.”
The male catches and rips open the female. The female mortality rate is about 30 percent. This type of mating causes females to flee, thus spreading the population.

Bed bugs generally travel to your home with a guest or in your luggage. They are found in hospitals, hotels, churches, taxis, colleges, prisons and the like.

In a hotel, check the mattress for dark or rusty spots. Check behind the head board and behind framed pictures. Keep your suitcases on a stand, not the floor. Even the swankiest hotels may have bed bugs.

They are not a sign of slovenly living.

“This is the ultimate bloodsucker of insects. Both males and females feed on blood,” Anderson said.

At 80 degrees a new generation can appear every 30 days. A 65-degree environment delays the process to about 120 days.

Bed bugs generally feed between 3 and 5 a.m., but they are not shy about adapting to your personal sleep habits.

Some pest controllers now use specially trained dogs to sniff out bed bugs.
Sniffer could, indeed, locate a sealed but odor releasing container of bed bugs in a suitcase brought by Charlie Mastroiberi, of Quest Pest Control.

The use of dogs is controversial because some pest controllers are not convinced that the canine nose can distinguish between live insects and dead carcasses.

So, how do you get rid of them? Anderson’s tests reveal that a dust of amorphous silica gel continues to keep killing 100 percent bed bugs up to 36 days after initial treatment.

None of the other pesticides, available to consumers or professionals, was as effective, Anderson found. One product, Drione, contains the silica along with an apparently unnecessary pyrethrin insecticide.

Ridge said these steps are necessary to rid yourself of bed bugs:

Wash your clothes, sheets, and other laundry in hot water, at least 113 degrees.

Vacuum your house, especially the corners, nooks and crannies.

Rent a steam cleaner and steam your mattress and box spring. You may need to cover the nozzle with cheesecloth to slow the flow so that the bugs get blown away.

Encase the mattress and box spring in good quality plastic casings. Pull the bed away from the wall, and apply a two-inch wide piece of double sided tape to each leg.

Call a pest control company to finish the job, and take care of the bugs you may have missed. There’s no way around it; you’ll require professional help, Ridge said.

Miss one female, and the next thing you know, there could be hundreds of little ones searching for you.

McKinney said he thought the forum was valuable, though he keeps track of bed bug developments on the Internet.

“It was useful, the life cycle, acceptable treatments,” said Doreen Walsh, RN and MSN, with the state Department of Children and Families.

Anderson, Ridge and colleagues are now studying a fungus which seems to have an appetite for bed bugs. More research is necessary, but a fungal foe could pose a major advance, they said.