Understand what you’re working with in order to defeat your bed bug problem

Dr. Jason Meyers

BASF

The ultimate showdown in a locked cage: Who would win? Who would watch?

No one. Let’s be real, no one would pay-per-view that. We are really discussing other blood-sucking cimicids that aren’t our common bed bug species.

You could be working with an infestation of eastern bat bugs (Cimex adjunctus), western bat bugs (Cimex pilosellus) or even:

• Tropical bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus)
• Swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarious)
• Poultry bugs (Haematosiphon inodorus)
• Pigeon bugs (Cimex columbarius)
• Chimney swift bugs (Cimexopsis nyctalis)

Is anyone really going to be looking at the size of the fourth antennal segment? Or know the differential between the curvature of the pronotum? Nope. We just need to understand what we are working with, so we know where to treat.

We seem to lump all “other” non-bed bugs as “bat bugs,” but there’s a bit more to it. What do we really want to know? Are we finding other animals, such as birds and bats, when it wouldn’t seem normal to have bed bugs in a particular area? Or are we finding “bed bugs” in odd areas of the structure and not getting control with traditional methods?

Treatments can be as simple as nest removal or bat exclusion. But there can be stragglers or established interior populations that PMPs may need to manage. Simply treat those as appropriate.