Bed Bugs in 18th Century Sweden - who ya gonna call?
By bugzinthehood on May 4, 2007 in Carolus Linnaeus, Darwin, Smithsonian, bed bugs, bedbugs, biological control, history, predators, sweden
Answer: Carolus Linnaeus
From a just published article in Smithsonian Magazine:
But many of his other views were surprisingly modern. He foreshadowed Darwin in his belief in a universal struggle for survival. He was the first to classify human beings in the same genus as other primates, and he grouped whales with mammals (previously they had been considered fish). He advocated biological control as a means of dealing with insect pests (he was particularly keen to find the invertebrate “lion” that would control bedbugs), and he understood the importance of biodiversity…
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hopelessnomo | May 4, 2007 | Reply
Wait, this guy actually named bedbugs. He came up with that whole two Latin words naming system.
Pity he didn’t choose something more devastating for our wingless friends.
jessinchicago | May 5, 2007 | Reply
I can think of several good names, all of which would inspire Nobugs to permanently ban me from the blog if I listed them… Kidding.
Sure wish there was an “inverabrate ‘lion’” that would control bedbugs.
Thanks again, bugzinthehood.
nobugsonme | May 6, 2007 | Reply
Nice catch Bugzinthehood!
Yeah, I guess that bed bug-devouring “lion” is a no-show. Plan B?
Mike Harris | May 6, 2007 | Reply
Sure wish there was an “inverabrate” that would control bedbugs
There is: the masked hunter. But it’s one of those “cure is worse than the disease” kind of deals.
willow-the-wisp | May 6, 2007 | Reply
Don’t know if the masked Hunter comes to SF … but I did have a co-infestation with something similar looking. And sure … renaming the bed bug to something more aptly descriptive of the bedlam it provokes would be most timely right about now.
Quess what?
I’ll skip this time.