Comments on: More bed bug research: Stephen Kells at the University of Minnesota

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:13:24 +0000

Doug,
I think that low humidity and high temp would be more detrimental to their existence. Probably the lower humidity has more of a deleterious effect on lightly sclerotized nymphs rather than on more sclerotized adults.
I’m trying to get the original paper by Omori.

By: Doug Summers MS

Doug Summers MS — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:26:04 +0000

Lou
Thanks for clarifying that the primary variable was temperature.

When I used the term “ideal conditions”… I meant the trial that produced the longest survival times.

Would lower humidity conditions also contribute to foreshortening a bed bugs expected life span?

Are there any other measures in addition to raising the ambient temperature that we could utilize to shorten the life span of bed bugs hidden in contents that are being stored?

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:01:34 +0000

Table 2.2 (p.13 - Usinger, 1966 - taken from Omori, 1941)

Longevity (mean days) of once-fed Cimex lectularius (& C. hemipterus) at various temps and 70-75% RH

10ºC (50ºF) instar 5 remained alive 484.9 days while at 37ºC (98.6ºF) only lasted 32.6 days.
At same temps, adult female lasted 425 days and 31.9 days, respectively, while a male lasted 401.9 days and 28.6 days, respectively.
Instar 1 lasted 274.6 days and 16.8 days, respectively. Other nymphal stages and interim temps also listed - what I listed are the extremes.
Usinger noted that “the longevity of fasting adults of C. lectularius and C. hemipterus (after having once fed) is greatest at low temperatures and least at high temperatures.”
So items stored at warm temperatures will result in faster bed bug death than keeping same materials under cooler conditions.
I believe that reason to keep items stored 18 months to kill bed bugs is based on somewhat false (or misleading) information.

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:33:03 +0000

Actually the 18 month figure I don’t believe is what occurred under “ideal conditions”, rather the bug in question was kept under very cool conditions (around 54dF- ideal for waiting, not ideal for a quick life cycle). Don’t remember if this was a fifth instar nymph or an adult male that was able to live 484 days after a feeding. I’ll look up that reference in Usinger’s book and let you know. I may have posted this some time ago on the list. If deprived of food and kept warm or hot, bed bugs will die sooner than if kept under cool or cold conditions.

By: nobugsonme

nobugsonme — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:36:33 +0000

Thanks Doug! I should have known it was Usinger.

By: lieutenantdan

lieutenantdan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:51:34 +0000

In providing this kind of information to the public makes this some of the best if not the best reporting on the bed bug epidemic that I have seen. Very informative.

Adam from U.S. News & World Reports and the reporter from the Washington Post should read this.

I want to comment on the time that a bed bug can live without a blood feed. I would guess it comes down to a percentage game meaning that in certain conditions a bed bug can live to 15 or 18 months after a blood feed. I wonder if a bed bug’s life span can be shortened by stress such as just being missed by a steamer a few times.

By: DougSummersMS

DougSummersMS — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:02:56 +0000

I believe that the 18 month figure is based on Usinger’s research. He found that under ideal conditions a fifth instar nymph can live an average of 484 days after a feeding.