scholarly journals Human skin triglycerides prevent bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) arrestment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Gaire ◽  
Zachary C. DeVries ◽  
Russell Mick ◽  
Richard G. Santangelo ◽  
Grazia Bottillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Skin ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Host Seeking ◽  
Bioassay Guided Fractionation ◽  
Pure Compounds

AbstractBed bugs (Cimex lectularius) have proliferated globally and have become one of the most challenging pests to control indoors. They are nocturnal and use multiple sensory cues to detect and orient towards their human hosts. After feeding, usually on a sleeping human, they return to a shelter on or around the sleeping surface, but not directly on the host. We hypothesized that although human skin odors attract hungry bed bugs, human skin compounds may also prevent arrestment on hosts. We used arrestment assays to test human skin swabs, extracts from human skin swabs, and pure compounds identified from human skin swabs. When given a choice, bed bugs preferred to arrest on substrates not previously conditioned by humans. These responses were consistent among laboratory-reared and apartment-collected bed bugs. The compounds responsible for this behavior were found to be extractable in hexane, and bed bugs responded to such extracts in a dose-dependent manner. Bioassay-guided fractionation paired with thin-layer chromatography, GC–MS, and LC–MS analyses suggested that triglycerides (TAGs), common compounds found on human skin, were preventing arrestment on shelters. Bed bugs universally avoided sheltering in TAG-treated shelters, which was independent of the number of carbons or the number of double bonds in the TAG. These results provide strong evidence that the complex of human skin compounds serve as multifunctional semiochemicals for bed bugs, with some odorants attracting host-seeking stages, and others (TAGs and possibly other compounds) preventing bed bug arrestment. Host chemistry, environmental conditions and the physiological state of bed bugs likely influence the dual nature behavioral responses of bed bugs to human skin compounds.

scholarly journals Mating and starvation modulate feeding and host-seeking responses in female bed bugs, Cimex lectularius

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Saveer ◽  
Zachary C. DeVries ◽  
Richard G. Santangelo ◽  
Coby Schal
Keyword(s):  
Physiological State ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Starvation Period ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Host Seeking ◽  
Host Blood

AbstractReproductive fitness and survival are enhanced by adaptive behaviors that are modulated by internal physiological states and external social contexts. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is an obligate hematophagous ectoparasite that requires host blood for growth, development, and reproduction. We investigated how mating, starvation and social interactions affect host-seeking, blood feeding, oviposition, and survival of female bed bugs. The percentage of females that fed and the amount of blood they ingested were greater in mated females (90–100%) than in unmated females (48–60%). Mating state also modulated the female’s orientation towards human skin odor in an olfactometer; more mated (69%) than unmated (23%) females responded to human odors. The response rate of unmated females (60%) to skin odor increased with longer starvation period, while the opposite pattern was observed in mated females (20%). Although fecundity after a single blood meal was unaffected by long or short residence and interaction with males, females subjected to frequent copulation attempts had lower survivorship and lifespan than females housed with males for only 24 h. Taken together, these results indicate that by adaptively and coordinately expressing behaviors based on the internal physiological state, females maximize their survival and reproductive fitness.

scholarly journals Mating and starvation modulate feeding and host-seeking responses in female bed bugs, Cimex lectularius

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Saveer ◽  
Zachary C. DeVries ◽  
Richard Santangelo ◽  
Coby Schal
Keyword(s):  
Physiological State ◽  
Insect Behavior ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Starvation Period ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Host Seeking

ABSTRACTAdaptive insect behavior is subject to modulation by internal physiological states and external social contexts to enhance reproductive fitness and survival. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius is an obligate hematophagous ectoparasite that requires host blood for growth, development, and reproduction. We investigated how mating, starvation and social factors such as harassment by males affect host-seeking, blood feeding, oviposition, and survival of female bed bugs. The percentage of females that fed and the amount of blood they ingested were greater in mated females (90–100%) than in unmated females (48–60%). Mating state also modulated the female’s orientation towards human skin odor in an olfactometer; more mated (69%) than unmated (23%) females responded to human odors. The response rate of unmated females (60%) to human odor increased with longer starvation period, while the opposite pattern was observed in mated females (20%). Although fecundity after a single blood meal was unaffected by long or short residence with males, females subjected to frequent copulations had lower survivorship and lifespan than females subjected to males for only 24 h. Taken together, these results indicate that behaviors are adaptively expressed based on the internal physiological state to maximize survival and reproductive fitness.

scholarly journals Widespread Mutations in Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Gene of Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Populations in Paris

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 407
Author(s):  
Mohammad Akhoundi ◽  
Dahlia Chebbah ◽  
Denis Sereno ◽  
Anthony Marteau ◽  
Julie Jan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Point ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Single Point Mutation ◽  
Homozygous Mutation ◽  
Knockdown Resistance ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Channel Gene ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
The Status

Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus, are common blood-sucking ectoparasites of humans with a large geographical distribution, worldwide. In France, little is known about the status of bed bugs’ infestation and their resistance to insecticides, particularly, pyrethroids. Here, we aimed to find mutations in the kdr gene, known to be involved in resistance to insecticides. We gathered bed bugs from various infested locations, including 17 private houses, 12 HLM building complex, 29 apartments, 2 EHPAD, and 2 immigrants’ residences. A total of 1211 bed bugs were collected and morphologically identified as C. lectularius. Two fragments of the kdr gene, encompassing codons V419L and L925I, were successfully amplified for 156 specimens. We recorded sense mutation in the first amplified fragment (kdr1) in 89 out of 156 (57%) samples, in which in 61 out of 89 (68.5%) sequences, a change of valine (V) into leucine (L) V419L was observed. Within the second fragment (kdr2), a homozygous mutation was recorded in 73 out of 156 (46.7%) specimens at the codon 925. At this position, 43 out of 73 (58.9%) specimens had a sense mutation leading to the replacement of leucine (L) by isoleucine (I). Among 162 mutant sequences analyzed (89 for the kdr1 fragment and 73 for the kdr2 one), we detected single point mutation in 26.6%, while 73.4% presented the mutation in both kdr1 and kdr2 fragments. All modifications recorded in bed bug populations of Paris are described to be involved in the knockdown resistance (kdr) against pyrethroids.

The Behavioral Response to Heat in the Common Bed Bug,Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Berry
Keyword(s):  
Petri Dish ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
Video Images ◽  
Spherical Ball ◽  
The Common ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts

AbstractThe bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., is a common ectoparasite found to live among its vertebrate hosts. Antennal segments in bugs are critical for sensing multiple cues in the environment for survival. To determine whether the thermo receptors of bed bugs are located on their antennae; innovative bioassays were created to observe the choice between heated and unheated stimuli and to characterize the response of bugs to a heat source. Additionally, the effect of complete antenectomized segments on heat detection were evaluated. Heat, carbon dioxide, and moisture are cues that are found to activate bed bug behavior; a temperature at 38°C was used to assess the direction/degree at which the insect reacts to the change in distance from said stimulus. Using a lightweight spherical ball suspended by air through a vacuum tube, bed bugs and other insects are able to move in 360° while on a stationary point. Noldus EthoVision XT was used to capture video images and to track the bed bugs during 5-min bioassays. A bioassay was created using four Petri dish arenas to observe bed bug attraction to heat based on antennae segments at 40°C. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of heat on complete antenectomized segments of the antennae. The results in this experiment suggest that bed bugs detect and are attracted to heat modulated by nutritional status. Learning the involvement of antennae segments in heat detection will help identify the location and role of thermoreceptors for bed bug host interaction.

scholarly journals Lack of influence by endosymbiont Wolbachia on virus titer in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Fisher ◽  
Jay F. Levine ◽  
James S. Guy ◽  
Hiroyuki Mochizuki ◽  
Matthew Breen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Virus Titer ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Post Feeding ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Common

Abstract Background The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is an obligatory blood-feeding ectoparasite that requires a blood meal to molt and produce eggs. Their frequent biting to obtain blood meals and intimate association with humans increase the potential for disease transmission. However, despite more than 100 years of inquiry into bed bugs as potential disease vectors, they still have not been conclusively linked to any pathogen or disease. This ecological niche is extraordinarily rare, given that nearly every other blood-feeding arthropod is associated with some type of human or zoonotic disease. Bed bugs rely on the bacteria Wolbachia as an obligate endosymbiont to biosynthesize B vitamins, since they acquire a nutritionally deficient diet, but it is unknown if Wolbachia confers additional benefits to its bed bug host. In some insects, Wolbachia induces resistance to viruses such as Dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile, Drosophila C and Zika, and primes the insect immune system in other blood-feeding insects. Wolbachia might have evolved a similar role in its mutualistic association with the bed bug. In this study, we evaluated the influence of Wolbachia on virus replication within C. lectularius. Methods We used feline calicivirus as a model pathogen. We fed 40 bed bugs from an established line of Wolbachia-cured and a line of Wolbachia-positive C. lectularius a virus-laden blood meal, and quantified the amount of virus over five time intervals post-feeding. The antibiotic rifampicin was used to cure bed bugs of Wolbachia. Results There was a significant effect of time post-feeding, as the amount of virus declined by ~90% over 10 days in both groups, but no significant difference in virus titer was observed between the Wolbachia-positive and Wolbachia-cured groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that other mechanisms are involved in virus suppression within bed bugs, independent of the influence of Wolbachia, and our conclusions underscore the need for future research.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Susceptibility to λ-Cyhalothrin, Malathion, and Diazinon in Northeastern Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariba Berenji ◽  
Ali Moshaverinia ◽  
Abbas Jadidoleslami ◽  
Aliakbar Shamsian ◽  
Stephen L Doggett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Filter Paper ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Response Data ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Mashhad City ◽  
The Common ◽  
Student Residence ◽  
Paper Method

Abstract The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius (Linnaeus 1758), is a nocturnal blood-sucking ectoparasite of humans that is highly prevalent in the northeast of Iran. In recent years, the efficacy of those insecticides that have been frequently used to control bed bugs in Iran has not been studied. Due to frequent complaints about bed bug treatment failures in Mashhad city (northeastern Iran), this study assessed the susceptibility of C. lectularius collected from a student residence hall to Diazinon, Malathion, and λ-cyhalothrin. The desired concentrations of each insecticide were prepared in acetone, and bioassays were performed using insecticide-impregnated filter paper method. The concentration–response data were subjected to POLO-PC software and data were analyzed by the log-probit procedure. The LC50 values of Diazinon and λ-cyhalothrin for examined bed bugs were 1,337.40 and 2,022.36 ppm, respectively. Malathion at the highest concentration (10,000 ppm) did not exhibit any toxicity to examined C. lectularius. Comparing these results to the same previous studies showed that susceptibility of examined bed bugs to these insecticides has been highly decreased. This study revealed an occurrence of insecticide resistance in bed bug populations in northeastern Iran. It also suggests that Malathion, Diazinon, and λ-cyhalothrin are ineffective against bed bugs in this region.

Toxicological and genetical studies of organophosphorus-resistance in Cimex lectularius L

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Feroz
Keyword(s):  
Resistant Strain ◽  
Organophosphorus Compounds ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Resistance Mechanism ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Resistance Tests

A range of insecticides were tested on a resistant strain of bed-bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) from Israel. Resistance was restricted to organophosphorus compounds. Only some of the phosphorothioate compounds were involved, but there was no simple indication of the resistance mechanism on basis of structure of the compounds.Nine malathion analogues were tested on the bed-bugs, and relative levels of resistance to them compared with insect strains specifically resistant to malathion. Distinct differences in the bed-bug spectrum suggested that a carboxyesterase was not solely responsible for resistance. This was further supported by the ineffectiveness of triphenylphosphate against malathion-resistance in the bugs.The F1 progeny from reciprocal mass crosses were tested with malathion. Their response, in both cases, resembled the susceptible type, indicating a recessive autosomal character, a result unique in organophosphorus-resistance. Tests on F2 and backcrosses indicated that a single gene was responsible. Results using fenchlorphos were quite similar and probably the same gene (and mechanism) is involved.

scholarly journals Monitoring of Pyrethroid Resistance Allele Frequency in the Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius) in the Republic of Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-102
Author(s):  
Susie Cho ◽  
Heung-Chul Kim ◽  
Sung-Tae Chong ◽  
Terry A. Klein ◽  
Deok Ho Kwon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Pyrethroid Resistance ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Single Point Mutation ◽  
Resistance Allele ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug

Two-point mutations (V419L and L925I) on the voltage-sensitive sodium channel of bed bugs (<i>Cimex lectularius</i>) are known to confer pyrethroid resistance. To determine the status of pyrethroid resistance in bed bugs in Korea, resistance allele frequencies of bed bug strains collected from several US military installations in Korea and Mokpo, Jeollanamdo, from 2009-2019 were monitored using a quantitative sequencing. Most bed bugs were determined to have both of the point mutations except a few specimens, collected in 2009, 2012 and 2014, having only a single point mutation (L925I). No susceptible allele was observed in any of the bed bugs examined, suggesting that pyrethroid resistance in bed bug populations in Korea has reached a serious level. Large scale monitoring is required to increase our knowledge on the distribution and prevalence of pyrethroid resistance in bed bug populations in Korea. Based on present study, it is urgent to restrict the use of pyrethroids and to introduce effective alternative insecticides. A nation-wide monitoring program to determine the pyrethroid resistance level in bed bugs and to select alternative insecticides should be implemented.

scholarly journals Fumigation Activities of Methyl Benzoate and Its Derivatives Against the Common Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas R Larson ◽  
Aijun Zhang ◽  
Mark F Feldlaufer
Keyword(s):  
Control Agent ◽  
Methyl Benzoate ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Control Product ◽  
The Common ◽  
Laboratory Assay

Abstract Common bed bug Cimex lectularius (L.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) infestations are on the rise and due to the development of pesticide resistance they are becoming more difficult to control, affordably. We evaluated a naturally occurring compound methyl benzoate (MB) and related analogs, previously reported to have insecticidal activity on several agricultural pests, for its fumigant action on the common bed bug, C. lectularius L. A discriminating concentration was used to determine the effectiveness of MB, and several of its analogs as fumigants in a laboratory assay. It was found that MB provided &gt;90% control of adult bed bugs in this laboratory fumigant assay. LC50 values were calculated for MB against both a pyrethroid-susceptible and a pyrethroid-resistant strain of common bed bugs. It was determined that both strains were susceptible in this laboratory assay. However, when MB was tested in a field-like assay and compared to a commercially available bed bug control product, it was found to be significantly less effective compared to the commercial product. Our study has found that while MB has the potential to be used as a bed bug control agent, refinements in the delivery system will be needed to increase efficacy under field-like conditions.

scholarly journals Xenointoxication of a Rabbit for the Control of the Common Bed Bug Cimex lectularius L. Using Ivermectin

Scientifica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Gale E. Ridge ◽  
Wade Elmer ◽  
Stephanie Gaines ◽  
Xiaolin Li ◽  
Danie Schlatzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Cimex Lectularius ◽  
Blood Levels ◽  
Bed Bugs ◽  
Bed Bug ◽  
Antiparasitic Drug ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Common

Human bed bug infestations have undergone a recent global resurgence. The human antiparasitic drug ivermectin has been proposed as a strategy to help control bed bug infestations, but in vivo data are lacking. We allowed separate populations of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., to feed once on a rabbit before and after it was injected subcutaneously with 0.3 mg/kg of ivermectin, and bed bug morbidity and mortality were recorded. Ivermectin levels in the rabbit were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Ivermectin blood levels of ∼2 ng/mL caused reductions in bed bug fecundity, and levels of >8 ng/mL caused bed bug death and long-term morbidity including reductions in refeeding, mobility, reproduction, and molting. Gut bacterial cultures from the fed bed bugs showed that ivermectin altered the bed bug gut microbiome.

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